The Wanderer's Eyes
by thesaint
Summary: *I AM REALLY SORRY THAT I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPDATE THIS!!!!!!*Soujiro is wounded and is staying at a hospital full of mysterious people and also a mysterious girl that leads him on a discovery of a legend and even his own past.
1. Pitiful Child

(A/N: All the Japanese you have read here are all checked from a Nihongo dictionary. If there are any mistakes/corrections or contributions, please don't hesitate to review, contact me through Yahoo! Messenger or if you find out my e-mail. If you find the conversations hard to understand because of its old way, I am terribly sorry. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FANFICTION.)  
  
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The sun shone immensely bright and the birds sang joyous over the fields by the horizon. The autumn breeze blew with much fascination. Vivid colors flew across the fair azure sky and the song of the Forrest passed through the marsh road. A young man wearing a sky blue hakama strolled by path, with stains of crimson hanging on his face and even on his clothes. With a sheathed sword dangled on his bruised hand, he was confronted by savage-looking men on the road.  
  
"Give us your money and we won't harm a hair on your head," snickered one of them while he caught a stone he repetitively threw in the air. The other two of his companions grinned and had small slingshot in their hands and one with a dagger. They were, apparently, thieves.  
  
The young man said calmly with a smile on his face, "Even if I had any money at all, I think I'd rather not give it to you."  
  
The thieves were astonished, "What?! Such stupidity and arrogance, eh. Take this!" The man with the stone quickly threw the stone from his hand and into the lad. The stone had missed the boy, leaving them petrified. Then, he swiftly unsheathed his sword, beheading the bandit on the spot. The two were petrified but one was able to stab his dagger into the lad's chest. He fell on the ground as the crooks ran away. On the marsh road, lay a young skillful samurai, Soujiro Seta.  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 1: Pitiful Child)  
  
"True, I may have been smiling that rainy night... but... The truth is... The truth is... I was... The truth is I was crying..."  
  
Those words echoed through dear Soujiro's subconscious mind. He had been a loyal accomplice to Shishio Makoto and his Juppon Gatana. He lived a life tainted with the philosophy that the weak shall perish and the strong shall survive. When he was defeated in combat, though, all this was altered by the man known as Battousai Kenshin Himura, who had been a wanderer, searching for the true meaning of life. Soujiro had only begun two years since then and until now, he still was blinded from the truth by the lies that were fed to him. His journey had tortured him, for the most part, leaving him a vagrant, homeless, penniless and, most of all, friendless.  
  
He awakened to the sound of a very young woman's singing voice, but he fell back into unconsciousness soon after only a few words were sung...  
  
"De profondus clamo adite domine..."(a/n: if you recognize this, please don't mind it, especially if you watched this certain movie...) He couldn't see what she looks like, but she tended to his wounds.  
  
His eyes were opening up when he felt a sharp object puncture into his skin. The agony he felt with such a painful action, he jerked his arm away from the knife while he regained consciousness.  
  
"Don't move," a masculine voice commanded "I know this will hurt quite a bit."  
  
Soujiro stared at the man who pierced a needle into his skin. He looked somber yet jovially friendly. Blood oozed out his frail skin and a few drops fell on a basin full of more blood. He was somehow disgusted at the sight of this, but he kept tranquil until the doctor-like man had finished.  
  
He said, "You have been through a lot, haven't you? I can tell from all these bruises you have. Some of these date to even what seems to be when you were a kid or so. They're all fixed now. By the way, I am Doctor Kirashime. May I know who I am talking to?"  
  
"Soujiro. Soujiro Seta."  
  
"Hmmm... I believe I've heard of it somewhere but I can't quite remember where." -Soujiro sat upright by that time while the doctor coughed- "Seems to me you don't have a place to stay in, do you?"  
  
"No, sir." he replied.  
  
"Then you are in luck. I take care of a few sick patients that stay here. The patients I have are already family to me, and you can be part of it. You need not worry much, the patients are young, very young. Judging by your looks, I believe you are 16?"  
  
"Actually, 19, Kirashime-sama."  
  
Dr.Kirashime was astounded, "Young and polite, very nice companion to have. Do not fear, you will not be lonely and I'm keeping your sword out of reach. The children may be quite harsh and eccentric but I'm sure you'll fit in. If you may excuse me for awhile, I believe I hear one of my patients screaming by now." The doctor left the drab room and to a boy crying in another room. Lonely Soujiro wondered where he was.  
  
"Harsh and eccentric?" he bewildered.  
  
The next day was a bit better for him. He was able to walk about Dr.Karashime's garden. Soujiro noticed how much the hospital looked more like a dojo than a hospital. He saw flowers brighter and much more colorful than those in the Marsh road. He barely saw anyone else other than the doctor himself. Even as he ate his breakfast, no one seemed to be there. He presumed that the patients were to eat later than he was. Karashime-sensei passed by him on a hallway and Soujiro asked if he may help him. The doctor, once again, was astounded by such a gesture. While walking to a patient, Soujiro couldn't help inquiring on what type of children he takes care of.  
  
"Oh, I take care of patients who don't have much of a chance of living. These patients have only little time left to live and are irritable or grouchy at most times. Their parents want them no more because of their attitude that I am left to be the one who cares for them. Most of them are also insane in a way. Some are paranoid, while others are maybe just psychotic."  
  
"But why do you still nurse them if they are going to die anyway or even are abnormal? You're only wasting your time with them. You could be teaching or caring for others."  
  
"So you've found out I used to teach. Well, I am still a doctor and it is part of an oath that I try to prevent death even if it is impossible for them but my oath also states that I must make their time less painful and comfortable for them though they are of different thinking. Aren't we all like that?"  
  
Soujiro was still hazed, "I don't understand." It was the same expression he had left Kenshin about helping others being worthwhile.  
  
"I know it's hard," Dr.Kirashime said "you'll know soon enough about how it feels to have helped someone."  
  
The room they entered was drab and lifeless. A little bed with a tiny boy was in it. He had a bandage wrapped around his eyes and he lies still, not moving. Flowers from the field were on a china vase, elaborately beautiful and exquisite.  
  
"Soujiro, this is Soushi Tomore. He's a cute little fellow, but has a sort of blind predicament, not totally blind. Sadly, he is sick with Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (A/N: It is AIDS) and is alone in the world."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Dr.Kirashime pressed a wet towel over the young boy's head, "Are you awake, Sou-chan?"  
  
Soujiro went closer to see how he's feeling. Soushi put his hands up and reached Soujiro, then taking his face by the cheek closer.  
  
"Chichi? Haha?" he said.(Daddy? Mommy?)  
  
Soujiro had felt pity on him. The little boy, alone in the world like he was, was a sight that made him almost cry. Sadly, Soujiro had a heart of stone; can never really feel what love really is. If he had only felt it before, he'd understand. But perhaps, he might soften his heart and understand it soon enough...  
  
The doctor suggested Soujiro to leave them for awhile just for brief treatment and he obeyed. Soujiro went straight to the lovely garden. He had never thought of anything else to be more picturesque than it. He strolled around and saw a weasel pass him by, taking his sandal that fell off him. He chased it around, but then, he bumped into a young lady whom the weasel had passed with utter terror, dropping the sandal.  
  
"I'm sorry. I believe this is yours?" she apologized with a soft and meek, yet not too soft and too meek, voice as she held the slipper.  
  
Soujiro nodded and helped the girl stand up. He felt a sudden chill run through his spine. Her frozen hands made him lose his grip of her. Breeze from the wind weren't as pleasant as the ones before. These winds were strangely more of one's from a blizzard.  
  
"I'm sorry. To begin with, it was my fault in the first place that you fell."  
  
"No worries necessary. I am sorry if my hands were-"  
  
"Strangely too cold. What happened to them?"  
  
"Let us assume that I've been far beyond what the body can make of." At this point, Soujiro was pleased to have met her even if he had no idea what her name was. All he knows(or assumes) is that she must be dreadfully ill and this is what she has.  
  
"I am Soujiro Seta. May I know who you are?" He admired her picturesque visage but she was rather pale and white and trembling. Her limbs bore wounds and marks of blood while the rest of her, torso to be precise, was wrapped in bandages, leaving her head, neck, limbs(meaning legs to feet and shoulders to arms) were open to the wind. He admired her, nothing more.  
  
She said without much of a smile "My name is Sai Tomore. Let's just say that I was Kirashime-sensei's helper and at the same time his patient. He-"  
  
"But wait, did you say Tomore?"  
  
"Yes. I think you have met my younger brother here," she stated.  
  
Soujiro lightened up, "Then Kirashime-sama was mistaken. Sou-chan is not alone in the world after all."  
  
"We are worlds apart. He cannot see me, and remembers very little of me..."  
  
Soujiro stared into empty space. He was confused still. Actually, even more confused than before. Her words were like riddles and the riddles she spoke were undecipherable. Suddenly, Dr.Kirashime tapped his back and his mind went back into reality. Dr.Kirashime smiled at him and said, "What are you doing here by yourself?" 


	2. In Everlasting Friendship

The leaves ceased its rustling while the clouds high above vanished quickly. No wind blew strong, no sound emerged except one that stood out from the rest.  
  
"Soujiro, What are you doing here all by yourself?"  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 2: In Everlasting Friendship)  
  
Soujiro stared at the doctor's eyes. What did he mean? Sai was with him, or wasn't she...  
  
Suddenly, a huge clash echoed. It was ear splitting and tremendous and loud hollering accompanied it. Dr.Kirashime rushed to the site and Soujiro followed him like a tail on a dog's back.  
  
A horse had gone wild at the front yard. A tall, European clothed man cursed at the horse and two younger men dressed in traditional Japanese clothing were mere spectators at the incident. The tall man yelled, "Blundering conger eels! Help me get this baboon down, Taro!"  
  
"Father, I see that the baboon IS ALREADY down. He does not need any help at all." the taller of the two younger ones joked. The little one kept laughing but ran towards Dr.Kirashime, holding his hand to his forehead.  
  
"Grandpa!" he muttered "It's so nice to see you!"  
  
Dr.Kirashime smiled at him and the sarcastic one also blessed him. He immediately pointed his two grandsons at Soujiro, "This is Soujiro Seta, a companion. Sou-kun, these are my grandchildren, Taro and Chiriko.(A/N: I did not name him after the Fushigi Yuugi character)" The two bowed at him honorably and he bowed in return. The little one hurriedly went into the house/dojo/hospital(A/N: Call it whatever you want, but I prefer dojo) as if he was glad to be home. Taro, on the other hand, smirked but trotted slowly like he had been waited for.  
  
Dr.Kirashime went over to the vain man, apparently his son, to help. He winked at Soujiro and he walked inside. While he did, he overheard his master say, "So, Doukuu, my boy, how's your mother? When will you be leaving?"  
  
Soujiro saw both of the children, Taro who's around a year older than him and Chiriko, most likely an eight year old boy, go to various rooms of the dojo where patients occupied in. Curious Soujiro mimicked Taro's path and listened to him and a young lady's voice discuss:  
  
"Tadaima. Daijobu desu ka?"(I'm back. Are you alright?)  
  
"Iie...demo..."(No... but...)  
  
"Ara? Koisii..."(Huh? Darling...)  
  
"Let's talk straight... I heard that, that you were leaving..."  
  
"Yes but I'm not leaving you. I can't eat. I can't sleep. It's your beauty that makes my day go by. If only we were older so that you and I can be one without my father's judgement. Kitsune, why is this so?"  
  
"Maybe, just maybe, something terrible will happen to me. The gods want what's best for you and they won't tell you that I'm gone. They don't want you to be, well, sad..."  
  
"I'll even be more lonesome away from you..."  
  
"If that's so, let us not bid each other farewell. Let us think that we shall see each other tomorrow again."  
  
"Let's. Saying goodbye is like admitting this dreadful fate. You and I were meant to be with each other..."  
  
"Oh, Taro..."  
  
Cries filled the room. Soujiro lost his interest in such matter. The two appeared to be madly in love but the voyage that had been talked about was in their way. He crept far from the gloomy room, over to Dr.Kirashime who was almost finished entertaining his guest, his son. Taro and Chibiko went back also, only that Chiriko didn't look happy at all as he used to be.  
  
Doukuu announced to the short crowd of acquaintances(Soujiro, ;)), "We are leaving tomorrow and that is that. There is nothing tha-"  
  
Chiriko interrupted him, "I can't! I just can't leave my friend!"  
  
Doukuu pulled him aside to scold. Soujiro, having such great hearing though far away, heard their little talk.  
  
"What is this impudence?" Doukuu roughly questioned the child "This boy whom you speak of as a friend is useless. He is weak. He is dying. He is ill and is dumb! You cannot look up to him or learn anything from him. What is it that you do together, hmmm?"  
  
Chiriko responded, "Well, we make paper cranes and tell each other jokes and-"  
  
"See! You have no need for such childish mannerisms! You've known that for over three years!"  
  
"I haven't! Maybe I just forgotten how!"  
  
"I'm only looking out what's best and what is not and obviously, there is nothing that there is to do with such a retarded child!" He was about to turn his back on the child when Chiriko, rather humiliated spoke:  
  
"You are a good father, but..."  
  
Doukuu's expression changed and so had Soujiro's. He, at first, thought that he WAS being a good father and that a friend is meant to be someone whom you can learn from. This subject brought the idea of the weak perishing and the strong surviving, so he sided with the father's argument. Now, he was starting to be curious of the child's intellect. Crestfallen Taro's curiosity was also aroused and his grandfather was bright and proud of what Chiriko's actions were intended on.  
  
Chiriko continued his statement, "Father, if a friend is someone whom we look up to, then, he my friend, looks up to me..."  
  
His father was ashamed yet impressed with such deed. In the end, little Chiriko agreed to their voyage. Doukuu, much kinder, went on with his conversation with his father, but this time around, he personally invited Soujiro with them.  
  
The talking didn't interest him really as he recalled every minute of the argument earlier. It was such great courage that the boy had shown, standing up to his own father. All this was done for a sickly friend. Why? He wondered. There were so many questions floating above his head. Then, Doukuu mentioned some words that rang a bell in his head.  
  
"Houjin Kamatari..."  
  
Soujiro was all ears then. He blurted out with enthusiasm, "Excuse me, but did you say Kamatari? Houjin Kamatari?"  
  
"Yes," he replied "He is a very old friend of mine. We go way back only it wasn't a planned meeting for us. Japan was never my taste. Swords draw me here. Father, you should tell him of your many battles. Tell him who Shishio Makoto was."  
  
"Shishio Makoto! Master Shishio Makoto!" Soujiro screamed at the top of his voice with sudden shock. His present master knew the man whom he had worked for. The man he was a right-hand to. To think this man fought with him!  
  
Doukuu became annoyed with his sudden outbursts, "It is ample business of you to bother, eh! I have but no time to spare now. I'm afraid I am to go now."  
  
He then beckoned his children and they left. Dr.Kirashime's face was sorrowful but it was all hidden under a simple smile. Raindrops started cascading down their walls and Soujiro watched it in utter amazement. Little by little, he caught sight of a figure in the rain. As the doctor went back in to shelter from the rain, Soujiro remained at the shaded porch. The shadowy figure suddenly came clear as it neared him, dancing or rather enjoying the wet weather. It was Sai.  
  
She went towards him, soaked yet smiling. The breeze was soothing now than before and Soujiro liked it. He just didn't show it.  
  
She spoke, "Rejoice with me! It is too awkward to have fun all alone..."  
  
Soujiro preached, "Are you joking me? You may become worse with that condition of yours! You should care about your health and your future! Think of your brother who'll be alone when you... when you're dead from that horrid rain! It isn't meant for you!"  
  
She smiled at him innocently but then she took hold of his hands and pulled him out from the porch, "Carpe diem, quan minimum credula postero. A roman poet, Horace, said it. It means 'Seize the day; put no trust in tomorrow'."  
  
Soujiro, soaked under the rain like her, thought about it, "What did you do that for? I don't understand you well, Sai-chan."  
  
She placed her frozen hands on his shoulder, "Life is short for those who live at its peak. Live each day as if you'll never be able to see another because you'll never know when the day that you will find yourself to be judged before the true God Almighty. As a Latin proverb says, 'Tempis fugit.' Time flies...'"  
  
Soujiro understood her then. Although he did, he was unsure of her character, whether she was brave about her predicament or if she's too sad to admit it. There was so much to ask the world in so little time. These add up to his own troubles, his dilemmas. The rain poured cold and still, The clouds covering the visible moon was dark and enormous. The strong winds affected nothing of the two friends dancing in the rain. Then, in the midst of their laughter, Soujiro had done one thing that he had lost in the sands of time for so long ago...  
  
His True Smile... 


	3. Within a Nightmare's Grasp

The rain kept falling still, and two friends had every second precious. The howling of the wild wolves didn't even bother them that stormy night. However, in parting, Soujiro felt a cold winter's eve turn warm. It was the night that he hoped to get by without the traumas from the road...  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 3: Within A Nightmare's Grasp)  
  
Soujiro and Sai jumped on every single puddle on the street inside the gated dojo. They caught a few of the raindrops that seemed to take shape under the long and worn weather. The laughter and smiles brightened their faces as the loneliness and weariness washed away. Then, Sai, walked to the porch and sat down. Soujiro ran her.  
  
Out of breath and joyful, Soujiro asked her, "Are- Are you tired? I'm- I'm- I'm tired too."  
  
She smiled at him, "You look like it. It is best you get back inside. It is late."  
  
"Are you? By the way, there's something I need to tell you..."  
  
"What is it, friend?" she inquired.  
  
"Thank you. Thank you very much, Sai-chan."  
  
"You too, my friend. Thank you too..." She stood up, soaked, and walked inside. Soujiro waited for a few seconds, but when he came jogging in, she was already gone.  
  
He walked to the room where Dr.Kirashime directed him to stay in. It was a lovely place. The lamp was rather bigger than most of the others, so he wanted to shut it off before he goes to sleep. He changed from his wet clothes so he doesn't end up ill like the children there. On a small table by a futon, there was a little chess set made out of glass. He was careful not touching it, for it was fragile enough to break if a loud creak was made in the room. He knew little of the game, as Kamogata Yumi, Shishio's beau, played only a few games with him. It must've been only a couple of times as he remembered. A note was on top of it where he assumes must've been from the room's former border. He curiously opened it and it reads in Japanese characters, but translated by him:  
  
"October 6. I am 14 years old still.  
  
We had the funeral held today. It was sad. My friend died of her tuberculosis but I think it was that witch's fault. I couldn't tell Taro because I know he loved her so, but then, he admires and respects my friend. That witch killed my friend with that poison she put on her soup. She knew that when my friend's dead, the master would lose his happiness and turn to her, the next in line. It is sad my friend bears no mind to have a grudge against that horrible girl. She was the kindest and wisest of those I knew and I know she'll be at peace. My brother is to be with her too. I hope I will too..."  
  
He stared closely at the signature at the bottom of the torn piece of paper. The journal it had belonged to was missing and its owner was, was unknown. He squinted his eyes and placed the note closer. It scribbled a Sai and what seemed to be a Re. He said with a relaxed tone, "It's Sai. I'd say it's definitely Sai. She has a brother, and she is famous among the halls of this place. I feel very sorry for her trauma. I never knew her closest friend died..."  
  
He shed bitter tears, for he knew the pains of bearing the memory of dead people. The similarity between them is that they met a lot of people who died. The hospital where Sai is had surely many deaths there and Soujiro had killed many and knew many that were killed. It is a traumatizing thing. He lied down to sleep and blew out the candle within the lamp. He lay tired but happy, having enjoyed a moment. It wasn't the type that of those he had before, the joy of battles and victory. The fun he had was that of a child's taste, but that was the first for a long time that he smiled without the thought of blood or death within the path. It was so good having friends.  
  
He closed his eyes to sleep, but he couldn't. He couldn't sleep. Then, he heard voices coming from the halls. It was singing. Someone was singing in the middle of a quiet night. The noise from the storm had died down until for another day. He heard it loud and clear. He sat upright on his bed and heard the words:  
  
"Cum resurget creatura... Judicanti resonsurra... Judex ergo cum sedebit.... Nil inultum remanebit... Quem patronum rogaturus... Cum vix justus sit securus?... Juste Judex ultionis... Ante diem rationis... Kyrie Eleison...(A/N: I can't tell you what this means yet. It's part of the story, but I will tell you later in this chapter.)"  
  
Soujiro didn't know what those words meant, but he was sure Sai can tell him. She speaks Latin, he's sure of it. He peeked out from his door. Nothing. The hall was too dark. Suddenly, he saw something move upon the cold floor. He rubbed his arms for warmth and sent himself out to know who it was. It might've been Kitsune. He wanted to meet her to ask about the note, whether she knew anything about it. He followed the figure until it stopped and he confronted her. She repeated, with her back turned from him, "Libera me Domine de morte aeterna... Libera me Domine!" She then turned to him and he saw a gory bloodied face. She, or rather, it dazed at him as if it didn't know if he was there. All it kept doing was chanting, chanting over and over the words, "Libera me Domine de morte aeterna... Libera me Domine!"  
  
Soujiro leapt back and he found himself lying on his back, on the comfort of his bed. It was a short yet scary nightmare. He caught his breath and wiped his face full of sweat from where he knows not a reason why he was. It was a damp night. The rain caused the whole environment to be cold. He rubbed his shoulders again, once if you believe he did dream of all that had happened, and he stood up. He lit his candlelamp and walked in the halls to find out if he didn't dream of what he saw. He reached the area of where he saw the ghastly figure and no, there was no ghost there. He sighed of relief, that all that he thought had happened didn't happen at all. He turned back to depart for his room when his candle blew out. He whispered to himself, "That is it! I am asking him for a gas lamp!" He took one step when he heard another chant, "Kyrie Eleison... Kyrie Eleison!!" He leapt again and he fell on his back when he heard it. He saw a grim face. The same grim face he had seem with blood all over its visage was there again. This time, it was no dream. He didn't wake up and he felt the pain of falling down. The ghost was much more in detail now. It was a girl in a bridesmaid's gown holding a flower with both hands. Her mutilated face was so horrid, Soujiro immediately vomited at the sight of it. She held out her hand to him, but it wasn't that of offering help. She cried out to him, "Kyrie Eleison! Libera me Domine!"  
  
Soujiro crawled on his back to the floor to escape her evil clutch. He was terrified of her. He crawled fast, as if he was sliding down the hall with the ghost upon his trail. It kept crying out the same Latin words. He imagined Sai telling him what they meant, but for now he desperately needed help. He gained a big lead over the monster and he knocked on the doctor's door. He beated it with much strength. He must wake up. He must!  
  
Upon his last knock, the monster neared him and at the same time, the door opened. Dr.Kirashime rubbed his eyes and yawned, "What is it, Sou-kun? What's the matter?"  
  
"I-I-I WAS BEING CHASED," Soujiro panted "BY A MONSTER! IT-"  
  
"Woah. Slow down. What?"  
  
Soujiro repeated, "I was, I was being chased by this creature. It must've been a ghost or-"  
  
"Soujiro, please, have a seat." he said. He let him in his room. The chair was immediately brought to him as if he was about to faint. "Okay, did you say ghost?"  
  
Soujiro panicked, "YES! For crying out loud, did you miss anything else I said?! Was that all gibberish to you?!"  
  
"Calm down. I didn't mean it like that. Yes, this place was rumored to be infested with ghosts. Day and night, whatever the season, they're there. A few see them. Some who do see them, see only one or two of the whole. I never believed it because I never saw any, but I believe they're here for a reason. If you saw one, I'll give you a benefit of the doubt because you look so white you must've seen something horrifying. Now, off to bed with you. You don't look well to me. I'll be glad to take you back to your room."  
  
Soujiro quickly huddled near him. His skepticism of ghosts seems to be what gives him his courage and warmth from the cold, scary night. He was back in his room where Dr.Kirashime said, "Tomorrow, I shall be giving you an oil lamp. Oh, and don't worry about the beautiful chess set. You may play with it if you want. It's been so long since anyone has touched it. This room had been forgotten for so long too. I guess you are first to board it since four years ago..." With that said, he left Soujiro alone to slumber. However, slumber was not an option for Soujiro. He wasn't too tired to fall asleep and he wasn't too awake to do anything. He just sat down with his back to the wall and a pillow on his lap. It has been too weird.  
  
A new day had arrived and Soujiro found himself sleeping with his back to the wall but with a pillow behind his head. It was another day and the rain from the night made the weather cool and comforting. There was a rainbow in the sky due to the rain and the air was filled with nature's music. He was glad of hearing them after the dreadful night. He was glad too because he will have a chance to see Sai and ask her about the words the ghost kept chanting. He remembered them well. Every syllable and every intonation was glued to his head. He can finally get rid of the nightmare. He hoped only to be able to ask her about the note and solace her at the same time, in case she remembered her friend who is at peace.  
  
He stepped out his room and came across Dr.Kirashime, who willingly gave him an oil lamp and gas to avoid the hassles of the huge candle lamp. He didn't stop to have a chat. He was too busy admitting in a few more additions to his jolly family. He caught a glimpse of a few of the sick children and their familiar visitors in some rooms that were wide open. He also heard various voices, sad or enthusiastic:  
  
"Am I going to be alright, mom?"  
  
"I'm so happy I can leave today!"  
  
"I'm going to be dead, isn't it?"  
  
"Why are you crying, koishii?"(darling)  
  
He searched for Sai in one of the rooms. She could be outside of course, he thought. It was a lovely day and the free-spirited young lady was sure to be out. He was a year older than her, but his instincts were as sharp as an 18 year old's. He looked for her outside, but she wasn't as predictable as he thought. She was inside, only he hadn't a clue where. Suddenly, a flash came to him and he knew instantly where she is. Like most protective sisters, she would be beside her brother. If he were sick, she'd be with him, telling him a story about how the day was nice and that if he were to get better, she would take him outside. He imagined correctly. She was with Soushi and she was telling him the same exact story, only vivid and very funny. She changed her tone and used many characters. Soushi, though he can't see her, was laughing.  
  
"Then the lion be- Oh. Hi, Sou-kun. You seem to be troubled."  
  
Soujiro sat beside her, "I am. You see, last night, I had a terrible nightmare and I need your help to decipher it."  
  
"Sure, I'd be glad to but, how can I help you?"  
  
"Well, this nightmare was that of a ghost. She was chanting something like 'Koom resuirget kreahtowra, joodikahntee resonsuera, joodeks ergo koom sedebit, neel eenultum remanebit, kwuem patronoom rogatoros, koom viks justus seet sekurus, juste judeks ooltinunis, ahntey deem rationees, keeree eleyson'."  
  
Sai replied, "It is amazing that you have remembered all that. I know I can't do the same. Well, I believe it is: When creation shall rise again to answer for the judgement, therefore, when the judge will take his seat, nothing shall remain unpunished to what protector shall I appeal.  
  
When scarcely the just man shall be secure? Righteous Judge of vengeance, before the day of reckoning. Lord have mercy."  
  
"Incredible," Soujiro complimented "Then, Sai-chan, do you think it may be possible that the ghost wanted to be saved?" She didn't answer him. She stared into space, as if he remembered something dear to her... 


	4. Haunting Memories

The deep silence in the room kept locked upon its doors. The springtime cheers were lost at that moment. The moment where the nightmares of the past come alive...  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 4: Haunting Memories)  
  
Sai stared into space and Soujiro was terrified. He thought he had said something that reminded her of the tragedy. The tragedy that was written on the note... It WAS her! It was her who did write the note after all.  
  
Sai broke her own silence, "My friend... She said those words at the funeral on the 6th... I-I can't remember when that was..."  
  
"You mean October?" Soujiro said, remembering the torn piece of a journal he read.  
  
"October," she echoed "I guess it was then. The funeral had so many visitors. I was only fourteen then. I was sure it can't be because of tuberculosis but, I can't remain confused for so long..."  
  
Soujiro wanted to avoid having her remember such a dreadful event, "Does that mean you know Taro?" He couldn't help it. He was too curious at that point.  
  
"Yes. He was an old friend... I still remember everything... The poison... The soup..."  
  
She clenched her hands in horror that she can still see brightly her past. Soujiro reached for her hand, but she tugged it away when he had. She clawed her hair with her cold hands. She talked beneath her breath, "If I can cry, I'd cry but I know it is my curse to be so miserable. It is difficult denying everything that happened."  
  
She clawed her hair tighter and thunder roared outside. The storm was going back. Noise surrounded their area. The thunder was bad enough. However, everything that can make a sound also commenced to the dreaded music. There, she let out a scream, "STOP IT!!! SILENCE!!! ALL OF YOU!!!"  
  
Within that moment, she collapsed onto his chest, because she was weary. She was weary and miserable. If only he never reminded her of the trauma...  
  
He lay her beside her brother, who seems to have heard what she had sad. Tears streamed from his two delicate eyes. Ever since Soujiro had been there(which was not too long yet), he had always wanted to embrace Soushi because of his awful predicament. There was so much to admire in the strength that the two siblings carry. He left the room for them to regain their strength, and even perhaps their health.  
  
He saw Dr.Kirashime carry his last admission into the last room. He wasn't busy now, and Soujiro rather, wanted to talk to him about the mysteries that roam within the dojo. He also wanted to talk to him about Shishio's connection with him.  
  
"Ohaiyoo gozaimasu, sensei..."(Good morning, doctor...)  
  
He nodded back without turning to look at him. Soujiro tried again, "Good morning, doctor. I see you are tending to you patients..."  
  
"Yes, yes," he replied awkwardly. He walked out, but he stated with much enthusiasm, "I've had many patients already. Some had very strange names."  
  
Soujiro looked at him while he followed. His expression had definitely changed, and it seems as if he was in the mood to talk very much. He continued, "I've had one named Kaiken and another named Sai,-" Soujiro chuckled at this point."-weapons. I've had Kitsune, Suzaku and Cho. I've also had a Busu, Baka and an Onna here. Don't you find that so weird?"  
  
"Very weird..." Soujiro agreed.  
  
"It's just sad that I have to see them all suffer; but I think it is better this way..."  
  
Soujiro saw a different man again in Dr.Kirashime's eyes. He turned cold and inside was all-rotten. Contemplating the past was an absolute horror, having to remember all the blood and deaths that happened. Dr.Kirashime bowed his head as they entered his room and he sat down. When Soujiro had also sat down, Dr.Kirashime was already holding a wooden box, "Out on the fields during the Bakumatsu no Douran, my wife abandoned me and our four children because she didn't want to be around a man that worked for the Shinsengumi. She was a woman who changes her mind whenever she had a chance. My eldest son worked in the Shinsengumi too and my second child, a girl, married a Shinsengumi captain. My third one, Doukuu, was the rebel. He traveled all over Japan to find his mother. He would wander alone on the streets though it was dangerous. He was never afraid..."  
  
He pry open the box and inside were sketches that were amazingly detailed and precise. He handed a few over to Soujiro for him to look at. He pointed out his sons and his wife and the old house where they lived in. Soujiro was impressed with such beautiful and excellent drawings.  
  
Dr.Kirashime continued, "My youngest son drew those just before his mother left. Just before he died of pneumonia..."  
  
The last picture that Soujiro saw was that of a few scribbles and a lonely face. It had signs that blood had dripped on the page and a scent of smoke was with it.  
  
"Shishio Makoto examined this sketch when I first met him. I was a friend of his then because I saved his life once. It was by the fire..."  
  
Soujiro still checked the picture and didn't bother to know how Shishio got burned. The pencil shading on the picture was massive. It was dark and deep that you can feel the other side bearing every mark it had. Suddenly, he felt the face on the drawing moved. He saw the eyes of the picture blink. Dr.Kirashime noticed his eyes were terrified, more like the ones that happened the other night.  
  
"I see you were also drawn to it. That happened to me before when I was wounded on battle. The marks there were that of mine when I confronted an enemy, Reikou Tomochi. Eventually, he admitted his two offspring here because they were too ill to handle. His wife, when she entered them here, was rumored to have changed the two's last name so that nobody would recognize the dishonored family name of the children. Funny, I seem to have forgotten which child that was..."  
  
He laughed softly. Soujiro took a closer look at it again. It was alive to him alright, as he saw the face open its mouth and told him something without any sound at all. The face, from what he saw, lifted itself out of the paper and nearly swallowed Soujiro's head if he never dodged it. He put back the drawings in the receptacle and noticed the box had Latin characters on it.  
  
"Those... Reikou engraved them there for a reason. He wanted me to accept this box so that he knows I will not disrespect his children. Doukuu taught me a little Latin and a whole lot of German. I just don't know about this one."  
  
Soujiro's eyes circled the room. He scanned the place and there, he saw his sword. It was a worn sword by then because of his many confrontations with thieves(as you may recall from the first chapter). He was given that sword by a Juppon Gatana member Chou who had a great fascination with swords. He didn't use it much while he was part of the Juppon Gatana, because he had a Kikuichi Norimure, a sword he favored so much. He desired that Dr.Kirashime would give it back to him. He had no intentions really, but he wanted to feel its power even if it had only been out of his reach for a day or so.  
  
"I know what you want. That sword, one from his henchmen I'm sure. I was tending to his wounds when he brought up the subject about creating a group that will create a new order for Japan. I never said anything about it because I was afraid about getting involved too much..."  
  
Dr.Kirashime pinched Soujiro's cheek without any apparent reason that he should. Soujiro thought him queer to do that to a 19 year old swordsman.  
  
"He came back to me a few years after with a woman and a child. His companion, Yumi Kamogata, was devoted to him like the way we worship our gods. He meant more to her than anything. The child was adorable yet introverted. The child, from my perspective, was malnourished and carries pain that shall haunt him until his grave comes to pass. Maybe even then he'll remember the horrors. He told me to mend him for awhile while he would gather accomplices and underlings. I took the risk and spent my time with the boy. Everything I thought he would turn out to be never happened..."  
  
Soujiro saw the shimmering in his eyes.  
  
"I shared my philosophies and he his. He was nothing like Shishio and I thought it would last like that until he got married young. Nope, not a single precognition was correct. I recall the time I even told him a story of a thousand million blos-"  
  
"Blossoms that grew in the fields where the kappa roamed," Soujiro entered in his passage "Where the butterflies flutter as if there would be no sunshine left to wander in, and to the boy that shed no bitter tears and hid it all in a box made of gold... I remember that..."  
  
Dr.Kirashime grimaced, "Do you remember that? Do you remember the day that-"  
  
"You mean that day where I fell onto the waterfall and you had to save me. Then when I was out of the water, I swallowed a fish and-"  
  
"You said there was nothing from where you lived that was as delicious as the fish you ate that day... Yes, well... Now I suppose there is nothing to talk about anymore."  
  
He stood up and apearred normal as he usually was. He let Soujiro out of the room but allowed him to take the box with the pictures inside of it. Dr.Kirashime was left to his thoughts in peace.  
  
He murmured softly like a deep whisper, "I wish that I could have saved him then..." 


	5. Of the Fox and the Hound

The enigmatic past of the doctor was revealed, but the one of his friend remained a mystery. She was a mystery that had links that could not be revealed as soon as possible. If that is so, Soujiro was off to discover the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle...  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 5: Of The Fox and The Hound)  
  
The rain poured outside once again and the noise that was there before was gone. Soujiro ran through the halls of the large dojo with a wooden carved box in his grasps. He had the spirit of finding out the hidden secrets inside the past that he felt that he was linked to, so he wandered in the dojo looking for Sai. He had already searched Soushi's room, but to no avail, she was gone. Suddenly, he heard a voice singing in Latin. That voice was what he needed to use. The voice would decipher for him the words engraved upon the box. He was lead to the room where Kitsune was laid down on. She was singing a song in Latin, "Confiteor Deo Omnipotenti. Beatae Mariae semper Virgini. Beato Michaeli archangelo. Sanctis apostolis omnibus sanctis. Et tibit Pater. Quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere..."  
  
She shook her mauve-haired head when he entered. Her cherry red eyes sent him a signal that he should be careful around her and that anything dangerous can happen. He spoke rather awkwardly, "D-do you understand Latin well as much as Sai Tomore does?"  
  
She smirked at the thought of it, "Why? Do YOU know how much SHE knew, hmm? Do you THINK she knew more than I do, hmm? Then you thought wrong!"  
  
Her ego was unbearable and he thought of leaving her, but she raised a question he cannot refuse to leave open, "Did you like her?"  
  
He smiled innocently and blankly. He didn't know what to say because she was more than a friend or a best friend to him. She was like a sister that he wanted when he was still with his miserable adopted family. She was unlike them, for they punished Soujiro in anyway they want, whenever they wanted to. He was unable to even move.  
  
"So," she jeered "I see there's someone that likes old musty! Jeez, I can laugh my head off! She's not pretty. She's not half as smart as I am. What's there to admire about? Her pale skin?"  
  
Soujiro defended her, "You don't know her that well to say such nonsense!"  
  
"Who are YOU to tell me that either when I have been here longer than SHE was?"  
  
Soujiro became embarrassed because it was the truth. He had been used to her company, but he had only been there for a couple of days yet. Although at that state it would be hard to speak, he continued to protect her, "For such a long time you've spent, you never knew her as the person that she was."  
  
He was able to turn the tables even if he doesn't know how she felt. He ceased the argument and went on with his favor instead of having to search for Sai, "If you may, tell me what this means right here engraved on the box."  
  
He handed it to her carefully, but it was no use. Her rowdy and disrespectful behavior was different from the one he heard talk to Taro.  
  
She cleared her throat and read aloud, "De profondus clamo adite domine.. I think it means out of the mists cries the Lord."  
  
"You think? Do you know exactly?"  
  
"IDIOT!!! When I think, I know!!"  
  
Soujiro grabbed the box immediately before she was going to tinker with it any longer. He doubted her definition and wanted Sai to translate it for him, in case it was wrong and he was lead to a wrong clue. He was also in a hurry to get away from the egotistic woman. She was definitely different from the woman he had met with Taro, or should I say, met behind Taro. She was also rude to say that Sai was no match for her. He wished Taro was there to see her like that. He stepped outside during the rain. Sai was an odd girl, for she goes out on bad weather and stays inside in the nicest seasons. She had a different sense of philosophy.  
  
Soujiro caught a glimpse of her. He saw her sitting under a tree right by the gate separating the dojo from the world. He went to her to see if she was calmed down.  
  
"Don't you wish sometimes that you want to go back in time to stop something before it ever happened?.."  
  
Soujiro gazed at her differently this time. Her pale frozen skin was more inclined to her bones and her bones seem to trace her limbs. She was thinner than what she saw that morning and blood curdled upon her lips. Her cobalt eyes lost its glow and her soft jet-black hair was darker than ever. He sat beside her and he put his arms around her to solace her. She leaned on his shoulder as if she was never going to see him again.  
  
"Yeah, I wish we can..."  
  
He wiped off the blood on her cheeks with his finger. The blood appeared to be blue in hue and he was wondering if her illness had something to do with it. He also wondered if what she meant was about the tragedy or if had been because she was going to die and leave him sooner than he thought possible...  
  
"I remembered my friend at the funeral... It was sad to see Saime and I separated. She was a thoughtful friend. Taro disliked her for some reason... I just don't know why..."  
  
"I thought he respected her and admired her."  
  
"He pretends to. At the day of the funeral, he tried not to show her that he cried too. I thought it was a precious sight. It was funny the way- "  
  
She was unable to finish her sentence. Soushi was out on the porch steps and he cried out to his elder sister, "Shishou-Nagi(Master???)(A/N:I forgot what Nagi meant but it's part of the story)...Come play with me..."  
  
Soujiro opened his mouth to ask her why he called her such, she answered swiftly, "He is the sweetest thing you can ever see because he calls everyone his master... It is sad he does not call me by my name or by sister..."  
  
She ran to him and lifted him in the air. They both laughed and he eventually jumped around, feeling the soft earth through his toes and the water splashing on his clothes. The winds were calm and gentle that even a bird can fly safely through. Soujiro also acted like a sibling to Soushi and he felt great having played with someone younger than himself. He also felt like he had done something important: making dreams come true. He thought of Soushi's confinement inside the dojo was no good for him. Her influence on him taught him to take each day special and let anything that comes passing by an enjoyable experience.  
  
Often, Soushi fell on deep puddles that made him cry although left a mark on either him or on his clothes. Sai and Soujiro found themselves sometimes to be frightened or worried. However, falling taught Soushi a lesson that in every fall he makes, he should stand up and face the rain all over again. The last time he fell, Dr.Kirashime stormed out to retrieve him.  
  
He scolded, "Soujiro! What are you making Sou-chan do? You know very well he can die because of that! Sou-chan, get inside!"  
  
Soujiro was unaware that his actions were seriously going to take effect on the child. He thought less of responsibility but he didn't blame it on Sai. Then again, where was she?  
  
Dr.Kirashime carried Soushi to his bed and changed his clothes faster than he would normally do. Then, he took Soujiro by his wrist and scolded him outside Soushi's room.  
  
"What were you thinking? He could get pneumonia and-"  
  
"I'm sorry..." he apologized.  
  
He let go of his wrist, "I apologize for my actions as well. You see, Doukuu did the same thing to his brother too. I spoiled my youngest and even if he was cruel to me, I never had second thoughts on him. It was absolutely unconditional love. The reason he died was because Doukuu and Setoh were under the rain and Doukuu never thought that anything bad would happen. Little did he know that Setoh would die from it..."  
  
"I'm sorry. I really am sorry." Soujiro comforted him.  
  
"I thought I could bury my problems under this house but I was wrong once again. I have them nailed in my heart. My eldest son died saving his comrade. My daughter died of abuse. I'm lucky to have Doukuu here only that he is leaving off to live with his mother. I can't help losing all my children."  
  
He hugged Soujiro in memories of them. He lost all four children but he has one companion with him left. Soujiro, involuntarily, wrapped his arms around him too, "You haven't lost all your sons and daughter. You have me."  
  
Dr.Kirashime held him tighter and tears rolled down his worn-out eyes. He let go of him, having to go to another patient who, again like the first, was screaming.  
  
Soujiro walked in the room to see if Soushi felt even more ill than he was. Little Soushi said in his meek way, "Don't worry, brother, I don't feel worse..."  
  
He added too, "Thank you for taking me out to play..."  
  
Soujiro responded with a your welcome but he was hoping to hear a sound and asleep child on the bed. Still, Soushi stayed wide-awake. Not a sight of fatigue filled his poor, weary, little head.  
  
He walked out of the room, wishing he can say goodnight to his friend just before he goes to sleep that cold, lonely night... 


	6. Screams from the Silver Mirror

The sunset cleared over the distance earlier than usual. The storm didn't die down and the animals that crawled the earth at night were afraid to come out of their hiding places.  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 6: Screams from the Silver Mirror)  
  
Soujiro slowly and carefully walked to his room. With only one little candle to guide him, he thought about things that usually made people happy. He scratched into his mind what DO people think as pleasant. He did all this to avoid the ghastly bride he met the other night. A fright wasn't what he wanted to have before he sleeps.  
  
The crimson wax dripped on his hand. The burning sting of its heat didn't take any effect on Soujiro other than him dropping his candle. He was frustrated at that and scavenged the floor for it. Suddenly, he saw a flash of shimmering white light not far from where he stood. He felt another cold breeze, the one he got when he saw the ghost and one time when he was out in the rain. He felt another chill in his spine.  
  
"Who's there?" he called "If you happen to have a match, please lend it to me. I'm over here!"  
  
He made a grab for the candle. It almost broke into smaller pieces, but Soujiro was careful not to lose his only candle to his room.  
  
He thought to himself, "This is queer. No one has come back to answer me and it is so early for this place to be very dark. Indeed so queer!"  
  
The echo from his words spread throughout the hall. He was able to gag himself before he was able to say another word that can wake up the children in the house. Another flash of the same kind of light appeared. It went up to him in a zigzag and he crawled backwards with his hands on the back to avoid whatever it was.  
  
He heard awkward whispers in the air. It accompanied the raindrops' melodies and the thunder's loud roar. He heard many different ones:  
  
"I heard she was gifted..."  
  
"A Brahmin! A Brahmin!"  
  
"Well, I thought of her as a psycho. Can't you see how she's able to move things with those ghastly eyes..."  
  
"She's not pretty at all. Those bruises..."  
  
"Why don't we put a little surprise in that soup..."  
  
"Sai-chan, why don't you do it?"  
  
The last one haunted him. He was unsure whether Sai had been part of the murder she was afraid of. Then, the inevitable whisper was deafening. To him, it was a whisper that can be a scream. It was a loud screech of help. The poor soul...  
  
Suddenly, his back was up against the wall. There was no other way to get out of the way of the light. Then, the flashing stopped. His heart beated loud, louder and LOUDER... He heard it clearly, until it stopped.  
  
"HELP ME! HELP ME!!"  
  
Soujiro was scared out of his wits. The sudden holler of the figure, the one before that was dressed in a bride's gown appeared.  
  
"Help me.. Help me, Gyenri. Call Nagi-chan.."  
  
Soujiro made a scream that made him feel as if no one can hear him. He panted and thought, "Why isn't Kirashime-sama coming here to see what's wrong?! Can't he hear me?!"  
  
He jumped up and ran to the hall in his right. He recalled having been there the day he was treated. The rooms were dim and light never seem to fall on their floors. That's because there are no rooms in that hall...  
  
"Gyenri-kun... Why don't you help me?! I know she's out there, somewhere. We can find her! Don't tell Kitsune and Yuri. They'll try to trick him again..."  
  
The ghost chased him. This time, her face was much lighter and less gory. You can actually look at her and say she must be the most beautiful woman you'll see in a quiet country town. Soujiro nearly scrambled on his heels trying to run fast. His Waragi's lace/shoelace was broken and tripping was one thing he did most. He wondered why the ghost kept telling him to help her, even if he didn't have a clue who Gyenri is, or was. Then, he came to a halt, for the ghost and he were face to face.  
  
She extended her arms to him, "Gyenryu Maten... Why don't you help me?.."  
  
Then, her misty appearance was blown away. A scream louder than Soujiro's came from a room he stood beside in. Strange enough, the door was made out of silver and it reflected the outside of it. Dr.Kirashime rushed to it and saw Soujiro, more terrified than he was before.  
  
"What's this all about?" he said "Why are you not in bed yet?"  
  
Soujiro stammered, "D-D-Didn't you hear m-me screaming? I-I saw it. I saw her again!"  
  
"If you were screaming Sou-kun, then I would hear you. This one isn't you. It's Gen-san."  
  
"Who do you speak of, master?"  
  
"He was here ten years ago and out three years after because a long- term case of German measles. Now, he's back with anemia. His name is Gyenryu Maten."  
  
Soujiro was petrified in his steps. The ghost led him there for a reason, he thought. There would be no other reason for that other than help.  
  
"If you think you've heard of that same scream, he was the patient I attended to when I mended your wounds."  
  
Soujiro nodded. It was the very same tone he heard. The eerie torment of the ghost was still present. He felt something moved behind him, but he daren't move a muscle.  
  
Dr.Kirashime went inside Gyenryu's room. Soujiro closed his eyes shut. "Go away. Please, whoever you are, go away."  
  
He turned around and saw nothing. The relief he felt was almost unreachable. The feeling of loneliness was different inside the dojo than the kind you feel outside. It was a dangerous thing to be alone during the night in there.  
  
Soujiro was back at the door of his room, thinking whether he should go and visit Gyenryu the next day to ask about the Nagi-chan that they all speak of. He felt a presence in his room, and he peeked to see who and what was there. It was that girl again. He gathered all his courage and stepped in.  
  
He asked, "What do you want with me?"  
  
"Help," She muttered "Help..."  
  
"I can't help you unless you tell me what to do."  
  
She muttered again, ""Help..."  
  
Soujiro noticed the way she stood. Her arms were raised in front of her, yet one of her spindly fingers was twisted towards the window. She limped towards that direction and her left arm pointed to the very middle of the screen.  
  
Soujiro stated with less courage, "Is there something you want to show me?"  
  
She stared at him blankly. The misty shade of her vanished little by little and she was gone before he can say anything else.  
  
He looked outside the window in a slanted way. A door was open and there seems to be a road outside, probably a back door. Soujiro scratched his head in confusion and heard something fall on the wooden floor in his room. The glass chess set was changed. The pieces were nicely set and the sidings of the board were golden before. From what he saw, the sidings of the board were silver and the pieces were scattered all over the board as if there was a game ended before he came in. He didn't recognize the scent, for it was like sweet perfume that is not strong and can attract bees because of its sweetness. The ghost couldn't have touched it, because her smell was musty and odoriferous. Only diesel oil could be what it can be closely compared to.  
  
He picked up the King that was on the floor. There was no dent or mark on it, but there was a hole underneath its base. There was a note inside. It appears to be that the chess set was used to store messages for simple friends to exchange without anyone except themselves to know. Dr.Kirashime never looked as if he suspected it to be like that, other than a normal set.  
  
Soujiro tapped the base and out came a small parchment. It read:  
  
"Nagi. Look at the siding. It  
  
warning. See you h  
  
-Gyenri  
  
I have. Please, tell me what i"  
  
The rest of the paper was cut off and a drop of blood was on the side where the last word was. Soujiro didn't understand what it meant, but he looked at the silver siding and saw the gap between it and the actually board. A chain of gold was on the floor beside it and was flat and solid. It was heavy too. He scanned it for anything peculiar and to his luck, he found an inscription on it. It said the same thing the wooden box had.  
  
Then, he remembered. Where did he leave it? He didn't bother with it long because he desired to know what was inside that chessboard... 


	7. The Unknown...

The moon wasn't there and no stars gave light in the sky. The chessboard hides a clue in which the ghost wants to help solve. This was a great disadvantage to Soujiro, but...  
  
What was the ghost trying to tell him?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 7: The Unknown...)  
  
Soujiro pries open the chessboard's gap. It wasn't all that difficult, but it still needed much force to be opened. Inside was a blue piece of paper. A lot more drips of blood were in the paper and the pen reached the other side. Soujiro was about to turn it to the side where he can read it when suddenly, the wind blew it away. He tried to grab it but the wind was swifter than he was. The piece of paper was carried out to the back door, where he knew he'd venture soon.  
  
The next day, he had a bright smile on his face. Jovial and encouraging, the dear doctor didn't even bother him at all, afraid that he'd change his expression later in the day. Soujiro had intentions on getting his piece of paper back. He knew it would only be stuck on a bush right by the back door. He remembered the trail he drew that night so he can also see what it was the ghost wanted him to see. He also intended on visiting Gyenryu to find out what it was that he was called for.  
  
He arrived at the door, still open, but to his dismay, there was no piece of paper lying around anywhere. He scanned around. No sight or even a scratch of it was found. He imagined a rat could have taken it or a stranger had stolen it. Whatever the case, he was going to ask Gyenryu what was written in it. He tied his Waragi's lace/shoelace back into place.  
  
He jogged in the house, still with a face that is bright and friendly. He looked for the hall of no windows to confront the man the ghost wanted help from. He forgot all about the back door because he knew he'd have to tell Dr.Kirashime he was going outside. He refused because the doctor was a little upset with him because of the day he took Soushi out in the rain. He didn't care if Sai didn't get the blame. She was also sick. Nobody would suspect it was her that took Soushi out, or rather, allowed him to be out in the cold rain.  
  
The hallway was beginning to be narrow, meaning to say he was closer to that hall and to that room. The path he walked in was already dark and there was little light that passed by the cracks on the walls of every corner. Then he stopped at the room with the silver mirror. He never saw if the good old doctor pushed the door to get in. He was weary that night and had been scared out of his mind.  
  
He pressed his hands gently on the glass and pushed. He felt its smooth yet hard surface and how he pushed it with all his might to open. He closed his eyes to put his concentration. He felt a barge of water pass him by. He felt it yet he didn't feel as if he was wet. He opened his eyes to see he was inside. It was strange that he didn't even hear the door creak open or any other matter that cold have told him he was inside. A decent- looking man around the age of twenty or over was lying on his back with his hands clasped together. A juzu/oriental rosary was wrapped around them and he was fast asleep.  
  
Soujiro looked back to see if the silver door was also a mirror. Peculiar, he thought. The door reflected those that are outside the door, not the inside. It was useful having that in a house where robbers may break in. They would have a hard time opening it and at the same time, someone from the inside of the house can get ready to fight the robber.  
  
The lamp in the room emitted silver or gray light. Soujiro never saw anything like it before. It is hard to explain how he saw it or how it absolutely appeared. The light was simply gray or silver and there are no other words to express it other than weird.  
  
There was a silver platter on a silver table and it had a lion's head engraved on it. A creature unknown to him was beside the lion. It had an eagle's head and a body of a horse. A mane that was of a horse was on it and a beak that was so sharp was its mouth. Then, there was a silver plated notepad, which drew Soujiro's eyes to great greed.  
  
"I'm sure he won't need it," he assured himself "Of course, he is sick..."  
  
He was about to pocket the notepad when Gyenryu was up on his back to the wall.  
  
"What do you think you're doing? I'd have your head-"  
  
Soujiro was quick enough to gag his mouth before he commenced another terrible scream. There were great amounts of wind that passed by his hand. Gyenryu stopped, he felt. He kept his hands back to himself and a less irritable visage contained him.  
  
"So tell me, old chap. First, who you are and why you are planning to- to- to cohemburate my notebook?."  
  
Soujiro smirked. He never heard such a fellow that would be so practical in his voice. He too never heard of such jargon.  
  
Soujiro explained, "I'm greatly sorry. I can't help myself to such a lovely thing. My name is Soujiro Seta. I was drawn to it, sir, I'm sorry."  
  
"Well," he snorted "It appears to be only a misunderstanding. I understand, my good man. Now, is it time for my usual practice?"  
  
"Your what?"  
  
Gyenryu chuckled as if he thought Soujiro was joking. He looked at him and his expression changed because Soujiro was telling the truth.  
  
"Didn't Modhra send for you? I've been awaiting for his arrival."  
  
"I'm sorry. No, I'm not whoever you were waiting for."  
  
He exploded, "BAKA(Stupid)!! ARE YOU SAYING YOU CAME HERE FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON?! A-"  
  
Soujiro gagged him again. The quick-tempered young man was a hard to please kind. HE tried to bite Soujiro's fingers, but Soujiro poked his teeth before they even had a piece of him. After a few seconds, the fighting stopped.  
  
"What in the king's name are you in here for then? Speak, at once, speak!" Gyenryu demanded.  
  
Soujiro started to explain once again, "You see. Last night, a ghostly bride appeared before me. She kept calling your name and asking for help. After that night of confusion, I discovered you were near the room we had a struggle on. You even screamed."  
  
"I heard no scream outside my door. I saw you and I saw the dress, but not the bride herself. Does she speak Latin?"  
  
"Yes, she definitely does."  
  
"Many of us here are of different descent that has a Latin Language somewhere in our own dialects. My father, for example, was an English king's grandson. Yuri and Kitsune were of South African. They learned witchcraft and all those tribal affairs. They were born there as I was born in England. The Tomochi kids were Norwegian and Asian. Very nice kids, they are. It is sad that one of them died. I don't want to remember..."  
  
He stopped and took the silver slate from Soujiro. "Saicho Re- Re, I forgot, was American. Hated Taro, but a fine, fine lady. Loved her with all my life."  
  
Soujiro assumed he spoke of Sai Tomore. She was, after all, pretty if you think about it. Well, that is if you saw her. Her pale white and heavily wounded skin with almost all of her body wrapped in bandages cannot hide the fact that her eyes had a blue glow like no other. Odd as she was, there was no pupil in her electric blue eyes. There was only sorrow in the sea of blood. Her lips were no redder than that of a rose, but it was as pure and soft as a newborn's. Her nose was perfectly in the right place and at the right proportion; and even though one of her ears was cut, the other resembled a very beautiful one. It can be seen that she was beautiful.  
  
"Saicho was a nice lass. Green eyes and red hai-"  
  
"That's not Sai-chan?! She has blue eyes and-"  
  
Gyenryu erupted again in a much harsher voice, "I KNOW VERY WELL WHAT I MEAN!! I knew her since she was admitted here at the age of twelve. Kitsune was here at the age of eleven, the same year, and Yuri was eleven a year after. Soushi and Nagi were here at the same time with little Soushi being only a baby and Nagi was eight. They happen to be here only a month or two before I came here with my honorable father."  
  
Gyenryu ordered after a light pause, "My dear visitor, would you mind opening that cupboard to your right and hand me a cup of tea. I need to drink once a day."  
  
Soujiro obeyed his wishes before he rants and raves. His cupboard was made out of silver, and the handle was that of the creature he couldn't identify. Inside were cups and saucers. A few snacks were there such as pate(which he did bother to take out) and crackers. A large pot or kettle was at the bottom, made out of China with silver marks on the side.  
  
"That was a gift" he said "From an old friend, a knight's son, we were told. He went all the way from China to get a Celadon Pot. I used it for many things, tea, coffee or just hot water."  
  
Soujiro, having to experience a hasty curiosity, asked with much enthusiasm, "What's this? I mean, the carving on the handle and the one of the plate."  
  
"That, me friend is a Hippogriff. They were the favored mount of the knights of Charlemange, legend says. They, again with the legends, were of a union between a mare and a griffin, where it takes most of its characteristics."  
  
"I've never seen such a queer creature, and a greefon?"  
  
"A Griffin, half eagle and half horse."  
  
"Are these creatures real?"  
  
"No!" Gyenryu exclaimed "Of course not! Unless you had a vivid imagination like Nagi or you did see them, they are nothing but a writer's creation."  
  
Soujiro poured the tea, feeling a little dumb to believe such a thing. He had, however, noticed how much Gyenryu praised his friend Nagi so much.  
  
"I shall be glad to have you for tea. If I do say so myself, I am the only one who drinks tea in this house. Nagi used to come and visit. She was the only one who would try this. She didn't like it though, but she tries it differently everytime. A dash of oregano, or maybe thyme and rosemary. Very clever child. Never met another like her."  
  
Soujiro took a short sip. Ugh. A bitter kind of tea and it had a tingly type of taste. Gyenryu drank his tea without feeling the burn and the taste. He was most likely used to it.  
  
Gyenryu offered him buttered toast, but Soujiro was contented with his tea. Soujiro liked it a little better when Gyenryu added a few sprinkles of sugar on it. Then, he opened the silver slate that Soujiro nearly took out of his reach.  
  
He began "This slate was a gift from the ministers in France, where I grew up with. My mother was Japanese and her father was a merchant. Granddad ran out of merchandise to sell and became bankrupt. When an English foreigner asked him if he would sell his daughter, he refused. However, after having given him an estate in Korea, mother was officially father's wife. Mother hated my granddad even when he died. I believe Kitsune and Yuri's parents were like that but their Japanese mother sold herself. The Tomochi (A/N: If you want to know how to pronounce this, it's TOE-MOW-KEY. Just remember your foot, to mow the lawn and if you've lost a key.) kids had a Japanese father and a mother who enticed him. Sai had pure Japanese blood. Taro was too, but his stepmother had an English influence in him. I'm just lucky Chiriko and Boten never did change much."  
  
"I," he continued "Was raised under strict conditions. The ministers were kind to me, but they punished the evils of Calais. I loved them very much. There was just so many scoundrels in Paris."(He pronounced Paris and Calais without an s, which Soujiro thought to be a very authentic accent.)  
  
He looked at a sundial-like object in the center of the room. There was no light other than his gray light to shine on it. He announced, "Well, you better go. I would like to take my nap. -yawn- If you want to visit again, please don't bring anyone else unless you tell me first. I hate strangers." He brushed aside his cup and saucer. He held his slate over to Soujiro. "All these sketches were made by Sai. You can borrow them for awhile..."  
  
Gyenryu fell asleep immediately, but he murmured while Soujiro pushed against the silver door, "Remember: I hate strangers..." 


	8. Tavern by the Lake

The conversation with Gyenryu didn't help as much as he thought. He thought of going to Soushi to ask few things about his sister and if he knew where he had left the box at. With the silver slate, enigmatic chess set and wooden box as his clues to the biggest mystery he ever had, would he find out a few more about his own past and that of the eccentric patients in the dojo?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 8: Tavern By The Lake)  
  
Soujiro brought a paper crane he made to Soushi's room. He was quite eager to get out of Gyenryu's room because he was ill tempered and sophisticated. He couldn't bear much of his attempts to scream either. He slid aside the wooden door and saw Soushi looking at his window with a little bird in his hands. He brushed its soft feathers and lay it on a little paper box full of cotton. Soujiro greeted.  
  
"How're you little one?"  
  
"Who's there?" Soushi asked at once.  
  
"I'm your sister's friend, Soujiro. Do you recognize my voice?"  
  
"Yes!" he joyfully answered "You're back! Are you going to play with me?"  
  
He ran up to Soujiro, but because he was blind, he tripped and fell flat on his face.  
  
Soujiro panicked and rushed up to see if he was hurt. Soushi, without any sign of frustration, said, "Sister always said to never cry when I fall down. The thing to do is stand up because I'm not a hopeless case yet like she was."  
  
"I see that she isn't. You think your sister is incredibly intelligent. Do you still remember her that well?"  
  
Soushi recalled with a grim expression, "You mean Nagi-chan? Yes I do. Nagi-chan was always the kindest person-"  
  
"Don't you mean Sai? You keep calling her Nagi though that's not her name."  
  
Soushi stared with his useless big eyes into the crane to tell what it was, but he exclaimed, "Sai? Oh! Saicho Myougi was her best friend!"  
  
"Pardon? Sai isn't your sister?" Soujiro bewildered with much thought.  
  
"Nagi Tomochi was my sister! Soushi Tomochi's sister!"  
  
Soujiro had an idea. He thought that: Perhaps the bride he had been seeing in the dead of the night was Nagi, his sister. Then Sai had been mistaken, or rather, the doctor had! Soushi was not Tomore but Tomochi. Oh bother his ideas!  
  
He was dazed as he was hazed that he fell on the floor as he sat. So which was which and who was who? Gyenryu confused him enough, now Soushi had too. The calmness of the breeze strayed by his window and Soujiro noticed the contraption Soushi toyed with earlier. It was a tiny hammock that was made out of the simplest things there were. The tiny little creature appeared to be a gray robin that had a broken wing. Soushi, in a mysterious way, felt that Soujiro had noticed his dear pet.  
  
"Kururu was here a day after I was. I saw him spluttered on the floor when Haha(mom) lay me on the tonfa. I thought that was the day I'd meet God. Chichi and Haha(mom and dad) never believed in just one god the way Nagi did. She was the bestest sister I could ever have. She never left me all alone. She's the only one I can see really."  
  
He took the paper crane from Soujiro's sweaty palms. He pretended it was a bird and gave it a soft nudge on the beak, "She promised she'll never leave me. She promised..."  
  
Soujiro took his hands and felt the warmth of every finger. He said in his most comforting voice, "Don't be frightened. She won't leave you."  
  
Soujiro went out, having a flash from his past pass him by. It was the day he sliced off one of his brother's head. To him, it was something he always wanted because they treated him too unfairly. They would boss him around like a slave. He didn't mind cutting off his head. He wasn't even his real brother. He was just an adopted son, and that's what he'll always be.  
  
Tears fell on the northern wing hall. The echo of each drop remained in his mind as if it were the day he had that struggle. Then, he caught a glimpse of Sai's hair passing by the corner. He thought he could confirm everything. She wouldn't lie to him, or would she?  
  
He ran to the corner he saw her pass. No sign of her. Curious as he always was, he looked around that way for her. She has to be there. There's no other way to get out other than to pass him. He then bumped into Dr.Kirashime. Hoping to clear things out, he asked, "Did you see Sai pass here?"  
  
Dr.Kirashime's tray fell down. Horror had struck him and his face showed a terrified face. He stammered, "N-no. I-I-I haven't seen her for a long t-time."  
  
Soujiro immediately asked permission to go outside, but he warned him, "I shall allow you, but do be careful. There are many scumbags in the slum areas of the town. I advise you to carry your sword."  
  
Soujiro longed to have his sword back before, but now he felt different. He didn't want to bear with him his sword, having to cause trouble.  
  
Dr.Kirashime gave his sword, and he was able to pass using the front gate. The back door was in chains and Soujiro carried with him a map he found lying on the floor by the chess set. The chess set, by the way, was in a different position that morning. Someone, apparently not Soujiro, had placed all the pieces back in their proper positions, all except the queen. The queen was in the middle of the set and its head had been knocked out of place.  
  
At once, he saw many Cherry Blossom trees and bushes with an assortment of flowers. There was a lake not far away and houses stood the way they usually do but here, they had inscriptions printed on their doors. He didn't have time to read what they said. He just wanted to look for that piece of paper he lost.  
  
The back door was carved out of fir, you could tell. There were supposedly pictures to be made but the carvers didn't seem to finish it. The light pencil marks were that of creatures Soujiro had never seen before. They were of many characteristics, but they all bear wings. Most were women and some were as small as an infant. At the very center of the door was another lion, sketched the way Gyenryu's was. He didn't look at it much longer. He began to scavenge the ground and the wide bushes that surrounded the area.  
  
"Ouch!" Soujiro bellowed. A thorn pricked his cheek as he was crawling in the bush. The bush he crawled in was wide and long. Children could live there if they prefer. Blood as scarlet as that of the purest blood ever found dripped on the emerald grass. It was a minor cut, but the pain was excruciating. He leapt out of the bush and saw a shadowy figure with a bag full of paper enter a house beside the lake. Soujiro quickly dashed to the place.  
  
When he entered, he was greeted with lots of music and the smell of fine food. It was a tavern where men had a drink and there was much laughter in the background.(A/N: Ever heard of a beer house or watched a part of a movie or show that there were beer and music? That's what he saw.) Soujiro looked over everyone's appearances, hoping to find the man that he saw with a bag, bloated with pieces of paper.  
  
Rowdy men spoke in loud voices and some did the craziest things like drink with their mouth open and dance the jig while they're at it. A woman in tight ninja's clothing went up to Soujiro.  
  
"What d'yeh wanna drink? I s'pose yeh want a manly drink like the rest of these scalla'ags, eh?"  
  
Soujiro hesitated, "No. I think I'd rather not."  
  
The woman was surprised at his actions and offered, "What about a great big jug of sake? It's our house specialty!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then what are yeh doing here, yeh sissy? Yeh ain't here for nothin'! Get out then!"  
  
"Wait," Soujiro defended "I'm looking for a man who just came in. He carried a large bag of papers. I'd just like to kno-"  
  
"Buy yerself a drink and I'll look for that man."  
  
He nodded. Soujiro couldn't disagree with her. That was his only chance of having to stay long enough to know where his piece of paper went. Although he did say he'd drink, he never really had a manly drink before. Sake is one of those he hadn't tried and wouldn't even want to try. He dug his hands into his pocket and got out a few coins as the woman directed him to an empty seat. The woman looked at his money and instantly grabbed them.  
  
"That would be enough to have three glasses of sake."  
  
He didn't want three glasses and he didn't want to spend all his money for them. It wasn't exactly his money. The good doctor gave him a few leftover money and hopes to do that atleast every week to support Soujiro.  
  
He was seated beside a bunch of rude men who kept boasting about how they fought with warriors. One of them arrogantly said, "I found myself in a fight with the Battousai! He was a wicked fellow, he was. Had that crossed mark scar on his neck as I always thought so. I even beat him! To think that he was said to be the best samurai there was! I wou-"  
  
"The real Battousai Himura isn't that easy to fight with," Soujiro interrupted after he overheard "Mind you, his scar was on his right cheek."  
  
The man became infuriated, "Liar! I say I fought with the man, I say- "  
  
"You scoundrel! We knew your brag was nothing." Other remarks of the man lying raised. Soujiro, having fought Battousai Himura(A/N: Okay, it was Kenshin, but I'm just using his other name.), was pleased to know his lie had been found. The man who bragged, with a lot of rage, punched Soujiro in the shoulder.  
  
Soujiro, having felt the intense burn of his punch, quickly took out his sword and cut the man in half! Everyone became afraid, but they all clapped at the talent he had. The man that had been cut in half, had a dagger in his hand and stabbed Soujiro in his neck. He too fell down...  
  
The blood flowed far from him and he saw nothing else but blue light. He saw an image of a young lady, and after that, he was in deep sleep. However, he wasn't yet dead as they, that crowded around him, all thought... 


	9. Metagnomy and the Corpse

By now, you might be wondering why this fanfiction is so aptly named The Wanderer's Eyes. The clues were given from every chapter but probably The Unknown. Although The Unknown didn't have much of a clue for you readers, there was a slight tale told and there you would have guessed one part of the plot. This chapter, more than the others, give you the most clues even if it is the shortest chapter. If you examine every detail in each chapter, you'll find out what may happen in this chapter as you read on. Thank you for reading this story, (and to sherluck789 for asking about the title.) ====== The hard dagger's edge slid the nerves and the skin on Soujiro's neck. His blood flowed on the cold marble ground as he felt the agony of the pain. A dreadful sleep came upon him and the things he hoped on accomplishing were lost. It is only in a dream he weeps...  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 9: Metagnomy and the Corpse)  
  
Soujiro saw himself lying on top of a cement bed. The images that came into his sight were all gray and lifeless. The trees were no longer green, and the flowers were no longer colorful. The wind carried no sound, yet he felt each instance pass him. Cold winds blew on him.  
  
Birds, crows from what he imagined, flew overhead. Their usual cawing happened, yet still, no sound came. The long grass was damp but the soil was not wet and muddy. He walked on them barefoot as he saw an event take place nearby. About a hundred people gathered in one spot on the field. It was a funeral, for a casket was carried to the center of the field. A Roman priest commenced the ceremony thought everything was set in Japan.  
  
The crowd were mostly composed of young people. Many were dressed in clothing foreign from the Japanese traditional clothes. Soujiro thought it odd that he recognizes a familiar face in the crowd. It was little Soushi.  
  
His appearance was of a six year old. His hazel brown hair shimmered but his grim face was not a sight to see. Tears rolled down his eyes and a bouquet of roses were in his hands. A man had him sitting in his shoulders and a woman beside him also carried flowers. A cross was placed on top of the ebony black casket and it was taken to the hole it was to be buried in. The casket was opened and people lined up to look at the dead person.  
  
Soujiro saw a man with a very dark shade of brown hair with tears in his eyes press his hands on the glass. He looked very much like Taro. Soujiro saw many other people come and take a look at the corpse and cry. The last ones were the three and a young lady dressed in a bride's dress. Soujiro assumed that the bride was Nagi.  
  
He started to hear everything. From the rustling of the grass to the blowing of the wind, the sounds of nature came alive. The tree he hand his hand on also had another by its side. A young lady sat by the tree. His nerves hardened and his hair stood on his skin. The cold weather got to him and he breathed with much force.  
  
"You are not from around here."  
  
Soujiro was startled as the young lady spoke to him without looking at him.  
  
"You're different. You bear power within yourself. A lion without claws but has power, yes, power..."  
  
Soujiro stared at her. She had a familiar face with a slash on her attire. She had many bruises and wounds. Black marks covered some parts of her, and her ear.. It had been cut.  
  
"Y-You..." Soujiro stammered "You're S-sai!"  
  
She shook her head, "Stranger, I-"  
  
She wasn't able to finish her sentence when rain began to fall. Soujiro went closer to the tree to have shelter from it, when he saw that the girl whom he recognized as Sai vanished. He turned back to the people at the funeral. They were all gone except for the gravediggers who were sitting by the casket. They haven't begun and the casket was still open.  
  
Soujiro, having such unbearable curiousity, went over to see the corpse. The images around him were still drab and colorless, like the way our television had been when they were first made. He felt the casket's frozen condition. Words he was unfamiliar with because they were English or Latin or something were inscribed on the bottom portion of the upper case casket. A lion's head was on the middle and on the dead center of the casket, those beings he saw by the door that had wings. He looked at the glass before him.  
  
His eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open. The sound of the wind and rain appeared little by little, and more birds flew overhead. Then, they weren't crows, but rather, eagles and one dove. Soujiro put his hand were his mouth still hung.  
  
It was empty. The casket's glass had the marks of tears and sadness, but inside, no corpse.  
  
Soujiro couldn't help being surprised at this. Why would there be any reason for a huge crowd to gather when there is no one to be mourned for?  
  
One of the gravediggers took a cigarette from his mouth and said, "Somethin' wrong there laddie? I reck'n you look as white as my pappy's beard by the look on your face."  
  
"There... There's no dead body here!"  
  
"Aye," he exclaimed "Oi! This kid think's there's no dead person there! What a joke you kids think of these days!"  
  
"I swear there's nobody in there!" Soujiro pleaded. He WASN'T lying though. In his eyes, there was absolutely no one and/or nothing in the casket.  
  
The gravedigger lazily walked towards Soujiro, who was still white and stunned.  
  
"Look here. See! Whad'ya think I am? Blind?!"  
  
He went back with the other gravediggers and Soujiro coldn't help staring.  
  
He saw something that he'd ever thought he'd see. The trees, the grass, the sky were all turning black as he saw it...  
  
Sai was inside the casket... 


	10. The Witch's Spell

The dream was only a dream, as Soujiro was gaining a little consciousness. His eyes opened up and he saw the real world. He was lying in his room. How he loved being back safe in his room! The, he saw someone he never thought he'd see again...  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 10: The Witch's Spell)  
  
"Please stay still... You're badly hurt..." a figure spoke. Soujiro fidgeted and fought with the hands of the figure, as a final wrap of the bandage went into his chest.  
  
He asked, with a rather sleepy voice, "Where am I?"  
  
"You're at your room... You've slept so soundly for four months and three weeks... It is autumn now..."  
  
Soujiro noticed how the voice seemed to sing and flow into the music of the rain. He shook his head, for his eyes were still stuck having to see no color at all, like his dream, "Sai? Is that really you?"  
  
"Ssh..." She put her finger on his lips "You need to rest... You are weary and out of focus... Just rest...."  
  
He saw her add oil into his chest. He had been badly beaten and his chest had more than a dozen slashes. His neck had been wrapped tightly, but not so tightly to suffocate him. His hand and wrists were also wrapped. He asked again, with a sleepy tone.  
  
"You didn't by any chance mend me... I mean- wrap bandages down-"  
  
"Dr.Kirashime did all of you when he had you from the tavern. I only did your chest and your neck. I wasn't here too long, neither was he. Taro came back to see to his patients. He had to leave on urgent business regarding his property. I didn't see Taro that much to tell him how severely you were hurt. I'm sorry..."  
  
Soujiro reached his hand into her shoulder, "It's fine. I'll be safe in your hands."  
  
He smiled at her, but she had a worried face even then. The bandages were wrapped tight and a towel of cold water was pressed on his forehead. He felt hot and sickly, as if he had caught a disease from any of the patients.  
  
"You have high fever too. The bush you had that cut had been infested with mosquitoes. Judging by the way you've been, it's dengue fever. You were sleeping, but you vomited while you slumbered and your teeth bled very much." She took the towel from his head and had it wet with the cold water. "Oh, I wish that the good doctor was here. He'd be a great help."  
  
Soujiro took her by her wrist as she was aiming for the towel that quickly went warm. HE gazed into her weary eyes and pleaded, "Please. You don't have to go through all the trouble just for me. Please..."  
  
She shook her head, "No! No, no, no. You'll die! My friend died the same way! Please, I don't want to lose you. I've got only you, Gyen, Soushi and Taro. There's no way that I can handle them the way you and I are."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Sou-kun, my friend... Soushi is blind, Taro is ignorant and Gyernyu... Gyenryu isn't in his right mind... Please... I'll be alone again."  
  
Soujiro comforted her. Her eyes glistened and shimmered with the tears that were about to fall on her cheeks. He rubbed her cold, clammy hand that sacrificed her time to take care of him. "You'll never be alone, Sai-chan. I'll never leave you..."  
  
Sai's tears cascaded down her cheeks. The wind blew through the window and a few drops from the rain fell on her neck. She stood up and took her hand from his. Her hair appeared to fly through the air as she went out the door. The strange thing is, the wind was blowing on the other direction...  
  
A few hours after her visit, Taro came to Soujiro's room.  
  
"Oi, Sou-kun!(Hey) I was wondering were you were. I never knew you yourself were ill."  
  
Soujiro smiled, "Well, you'd never expect anyone to be sick when they danced in the rain. So, what's the matter?"  
  
"Not much," Taro said in a friendly way, the way you'd talk to your friends as if nothing ever happened "Yuri's still the woman I love."  
  
Soujiro was confused, "What? I thought you loved Kitsune?"  
  
"When would I say that?! She's a blasted witch!"  
  
"You- but you said her name the last time I over-" Soujiro stopped in his tracks before he ruined their friendship.  
  
"I'd never say her name! She's a blasted witch I tell you! She conjures spell and, and well, everything naughty!"  
  
"That day," Soujiro explained "That day before you left and talked to her in her room. You said, as I remember perfectly, 'Why is this so, Kitsune?'."  
  
"I-I... I don't recall that... I never talked to anyone that day."  
  
Soujiro tried to think, "Do you think that Yuri could be dead and that Kitsune, Kitsune was acting like her to have you?"  
  
"It is possible, but why would she? She can turn herself into what she want but, why does she want me?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe you're famous here. You can't help being drop- dead gorgeous in a woman's eyes."  
  
Taro looked at himself. His straight light brown hair and jewel green eyes WERE a big advantage to him. He was well-built and fair(A/N: I'm not trying to generalize the way you should think of him, but he looks a little bit like Aoshi. Or if you prefer to have research, he looks almost like TOSHIZO HIJIKATA. I can give you links later on if you ask for it. I can even scan it and send it if you're really interested.).  
  
Taro accepted, "Well, maybe I am a bit attractive, but what about you?"  
  
"What about me?" Soujiro echoed. He didn't understand the way Taro's mind works. Taro's first impression on him was a rude, jeering schoolboy. He didn't like Taro at first.  
  
"Well," Taro started "You DO look like such a fine gentleman yourself. Any man would kill to have your looks."  
  
"Not my past, they would." Soujiro said. He felt uneasy being a bit superficial. He appeared cold then, seeing the horrors of his past.  
  
"Why? What happened?" Taro considered. Soujiro told him all about his days as a slave to his brothers and sisters and eventually meeting Shishio. Taro listened attentively to every word.  
  
"I see, but still. You are like me. You ARE attractive. Why, ghosts that roam in the world would make themselves human just to see you."  
  
"You joke around a lot. You should be a comedian."  
  
Taro joshed, "I don't want to be one. People will laugh at me!"  
  
The two burst into laughter and it died down only when Taro stopped smiling.  
  
"What's wrong?" Soujiro questioned.  
  
"I don't really know. I wish that what you said weren't true. Yuri IS alive and it was her sister that died."  
  
"You mean Kitsune?"  
  
"DON'T SAY THAT BLASTED WITCH'S NAME!!" he hollered. He appeared to be very mad at Kitsune. Who wouldn't blame him? She was as repulsive as she was mean. That can be compared to one's own bowels(A/N: I don't want to elaborate on this one. If you don't know what bowels are, it's that brownish stuff that you release when you go to the bathroom. If you say it's not brown at all, then I am sorry for your idiosyncrasy. If you still don't understand, which I doubt you would, other words are: FECES and POO).  
  
Taro left him to rest. Soujiro, alone once again, felt a presence coming. He glanced at the door many times to see who that was. The wind was still and quiet. The ground was damp and moist. The autumn leaves fell with silence, as he saw a shadow right by the door. He heard a snicker outside his door and a little bit of a chuckle. An evil kind...  
  
"Hello, Soujiro Seta..." 


	11. Drink And Die

Soujiro felt the presence of someone he needs not trust in front of his door. The presence was cold and unwelcome. The fear he felt was like the ones he felt when he was young, having to pretend a different emotion only because he did fear what was to come...  
  
The stranger at his door was no stranger. The event that was to happen was no event. The fear he had felt was no fear, but the silence they've had was indeed silence...  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 11: Drink and Die) [A/N: That's not my joke. My friend said it would be funny to put that in to make fun of the Drink and Drive theme. I don't drink and drive, so please don't accuse me of anything. I'm still 13.]  
  
"Hello, Soujiro Seta." the figure greeted again.  
  
Soujiro looked awkwardly at his visitor. He knew that person, only he couldn't quite put his finger on it.  
  
"Hmmm... I don't think ickle Souji recognizes the witch he's been talking about all morning," she jeered "How tragic!"  
  
"Kitsune," Soujiro muttered.  
  
Kitsune smiled. She didn't look like herself then and the light seem to shine a little different on her. Her mauve violet hair was reddish in color, and her figure was thinner, yet still the... the... okay, I'll say it. She still had a sexy-hot shape.(A/N: I hate saying that.)  
  
"Yes. What's the difference, hmm? Can you tell?"  
  
"What h-happened to you?" Soujiro exclaimed bitterly. She was a prettier that what he had seen before. His heart pumped faster and faster. His eyes widened at her miraculous change.  
  
She grinned, "Oh, this old thing? This is how Yuri would be if she was still alive. It's just sad she had a heart attack and her little darling does't even know. Isn' that so pitiful?" She suddenly laughed in a vile way. She was up to something not good.  
  
"I just hope you won't stay like that for a long time. I think I figured out why you're so intent on defending the old must. She's rather-"  
  
"What are you talking about? Who are you talking about?"  
  
"Geez," she responded "I can't believe you still don't know who old must is. Nagi was her pal and they both might be confusing you. Aren't you so hazed."  
  
Soujiro gulped. She was right on the most part. He was confused why Sai claims to be Soushi's sister when even Soushi states that Nagi was hs sister. Gyenryu too added to the onfusion. The facts in his head made him almost hurl. He had a collosal headache and he had to place his soft hands on his head.  
  
"What's wrong?" Kitsune jeered "Is the little 'helper' sick? Aww... Poor animal."  
  
"Why can't you just leave me alone. I was much better when you weren't here."  
  
"Is that so? Well, I must say you aren't as good as I thought you were. I've heard so much about you. You were very gentle and warming. You welcome anyone with utmost respect. I see none of that in action here. Perhaps you've had too much of a dose of your own medicine, eh?"  
  
Soujiro was irritated, "Tell me pne thing, who keeps telling you of these?"  
  
Kitsune grinned with her eyes fixed at him with keen suspect, "I don't suppose you have any idea how I have Taro and Gyenryu in my web, do you?"  
  
Soujiro shook his aching head, hoping it would go away and hoping that she'd go away with it.  
  
Kitsune conceitedly roared "Well, you already know what a witch I am. That coward! He just can't stand an attractive woman! Anyway, Taro is under my wing at times he takes a step on the wood that lays this house. Gyenryu is mine, when he is out of his room..."  
  
"Then he can't be yours at all," Soujiro detested "I've seen him, and I've an intuition that he never leaves his room no matter what. He just slumbers away-"  
  
"In a deadly sleep. Yes, that is why he screams so much. Everytime he closes his eyes, the trauma of seeing people die before him appears. It is, after all, a burden he must carry for eternity. Don't you think so?"  
  
"I have no clue whatsoever about your schemes or plans of tricking me. I've got my own piece of mind about you." Soujiro tried his best to stand up, but his left leg was weak. That made him feel even more agony. Every second he even dared to kick his feet to move, he felt a jerking movement, followed by a pain so harsh and unbearable he'd rather stay lying down.  
  
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Dear little fox, I've got something for you that'd ease the pain. Here, I've got you something really..."  
  
Kitsune produced a small elixir. The liquid was dark green in color. Since the top of it was wide open, you can actually sniff the delicious scent. Soujiro liked the smell, but he was warned that Kitsune was a witch, a conjurer, and probably even a potions master.  
  
"It's sweet and yummy." she offered.  
  
Soujiro took another whiff of the scent, but he kept reminding himself what a witch she was, "I won't drink it. It could kill me, whatever that is!"  
  
"It's only xanthochloride. It's just a brain enhancer? Don't you wish to be the smartest thing to ever live"  
  
"I'd rather stay as my self, thank you." he politely disagreed.  
  
"Here," she said. Then, she took a bag of purple powder and added it to the elixir. The smell was even better than before, and Soujiro's mouth began to water. It was light blue and bubbling, but that didn't stop his tongue from twitching.  
  
"I've added cyanodoxy. Now, it's a muscle enhancer. You wouldn't tell me you want to stay as weak as you were before, eh?"  
  
Soujiro was tempted. He was called weak, and that was one thing he didn't like being called. His nerves bulged and his temper rose, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEAK?! Give me that!"  
  
He tried to swipe the elixir from her clutches, but she moved it, "Ah! You're not having any yet. I'm adding this-"  
  
She sprinkled another bag of powder and the water stayed the same color. The odor was terrifying then. Soujiro lost his thirst, but couldn't stop thinking about the cyanodoxy.  
  
"I'm not drinking that," he claimed "That's the one that'll kill me for sure. Why don't you drink it first, since you're so clever?"  
  
Kitsune nodded, "Oh, alright."  
  
She took large drink of the elixir and nothing bad happened. The elixir had now been cut in half and Suojiro regretted having her do such a task.  
  
Soujiro sat on his knees, with the most pain he'd had for months, as if he was about to beg, "Please, let me finish it. Please..."  
  
Kitsune smiled. She was passing the bottle to Soujiro and he immediately grabbed it. The taste was undefinable. It was sweet, yet not too sweet. It was bitter, yet not too bitter. It was also sour, yet not too sour. Soujiro didn't fell anything at all, but at the last second, he felt a jolt in his lungs. His eyes slowly closed, as his vision was blurry. All he could see was a quick flash of silver light and the words, "Sleep, sleep, my precious pig. You'll be back when her hands will dig. Sleep, sleep, my gracious love. Rise only when there's a white spot dove..." 


	12. The Secret to Raising Cain

The sleep that was casted on Soujiro wouldn't be his last, as he discovers that the spell he heard wasn't the first either...  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 12: Secret to Raising Cain)  
  
The wind was fair, but the day wasn't. A white spotted dove flew into Soujiro's room carrying a little piece of paper in its mouth. Soujiro's eyes slowly opened. He rubbed it with his soft, gentle hands. He was sweating badly. The basin that was just by his bed was gone. Everything was back to the way they usually were except that the chess set had been played again, which in his mind must've been the ghost's doing. He felt relieved to be out of the gruesome finger of the ghost. He felt so strong he can dance through air. So he did.  
  
He went out of his room to visit his dear friend Gyenryu to ask him about Kitsune. Every second he had, the more he forgot about the chant she said. He assumed it was a song of a different dialect. Little did he know, that the "song" he heard was taking effect on him the more he thought of it.  
  
The silver door was in front of him. He stared at his reflection and saw himself to be in better shape than he was even before he was ill. Thank you very much Kitsune-chan, he said to himself. He raised his arms and pushed the door that stood in-between him and the irritable man.  
  
Gyenryu was on his back, reading a novel by Miguel Cervantes Saavedra called "Don Quixote De La Mancha". He coughed, but didn't bother to look at Soujiro in the face, "I see you've changed for six months..."  
  
"Six months?" Soujiro gasped "I was only gone for about four! What happened?"  
  
"I don't know with you, old chap. I do know that I've seen less of you. Care for a cup of tea and buttered toast?"  
  
Soujiro sat down beside him and held a teacup and a saucer made of porcelain. It was fragile indeed, for everytime Soujiro tried to even pinch it to be balanced, they heard a crackling sound. Gyenryu didn't put down his book and was more attending to it than ever.  
  
"How could I be gone for that long?"  
  
"If I would've known," Gyenryu joked "You were in a spell or something, my dear man."  
  
"What's that you're reading?" Soujiro asked noticing the book to have a colorful cover.  
  
"Don Quixote de la mancha is about an old man who thinks of himself as a knight and tries to rescue damsels in distress and all that chivalric stuff. It is a very long story. You should try reading it, my good fellow."  
  
"I barely know a paragraph from what you're reading." Soujiro stated with a frown. He saw that the words were neither in English or Japanese, but in a strange German-like form.  
  
Gyenryu apologized astonishingly, "Oh yes. I can't believe I said that. Terribly sorry, my good man, terribly sorry."  
  
"Gyenryu, sir, what is a damsel?"  
  
He was even more surprised with the inquiry than he was at the language barrier subject, "By the lion's crest, I'd never suspect. A damsel is a lady who is... well, a lady."  
  
"Much like Kitsune-chan?" Soujiro brought up. He didn't know what the reason for that for, but Gyenryu nearly jumped out of his seat by the word of it.  
  
He gulped, "I would prefer that she would not be in MY list of damsels. I see know why you've been sort of... bewitched..."  
  
"I have not!" Soujiro declared with his most infuriating voice.  
  
"DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT EVER SHOUT AT A DESCENDANT OF A ROYAL KING! THAT IS UNLESS YOU'D WANT YOUR HEAD BE SERVED IN AN ELEGANT SILVER PLATTER!" Gyenryu erupted, like always, in the most deafening tone he ever shouted. Soujiro feared that would happen, and that Taro would come by and see what was wrong.  
  
"I'm sorry" he apologized again "I've been out of control. I can't do my business here, you know."  
  
Soujiro, trying to be as polite as he can be, blurted, "What sort of business do you run? I've never heard that you worked for a living."  
  
"I- um... You do know when nature calls..."  
  
Soujiro blushed. He thought of something else. He never knew that Gyenryu meant bathrooms.  
  
"No need to be so pink. You're lucky you don't look anything like my second cousin Oliver. He looks like a fat pig with a yellow mustache when he sees his beau."  
  
"How come you never left your room to, well, you know-"  
  
Soujiro tried dangling a piece of buttered toast on his mouth to get his mind of the word. He didn't feel comfortable talking about bathrooms and doing one's business.  
  
"I've never left my bedroom. Not once since five years ago. All I knew was that I had an infection. I can't remember a thing that happened. All I know is- is- is bright light."  
  
"Bright light?"  
  
"Yes, I saw bright light. I don't remember anything else after that. I remember Nagi-chan visiting me. By the name of Jodraul, I was wounded but I felt strong! Queer isn't it?"  
  
Soujiro glanced at himself. How come I'm still wrapped in bandages. He noticed. He was bloody and helpless. He felt like he can move mountains, but the truth was he barely lifted his teacup without spilling a few drops on the saucer.  
  
"I do wish I can go out of my room. It's been ages since I've seen good friends. Modhra comes by every two months to give me my practice. I love sword fights."  
  
Soujiro grinned. He loved them too. He heard of the name Modhra too when he first came to the room. Perhaps he could have a chance to see his friend's skill. He saw a cabinet full of swords behind him. He never knew that such a practical Englishman or Frenchman was a fighter.  
  
Gyenryu took another bite off his toast, "Modhra taught me a lot. It is I though that taught him that there is no such thing as good or evil."(A/N: I quote that and this from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) He let out a big cough. "If I may repeat myself, there is no such thing as good or evil. There is only power, and those that are too weak to see it."  
  
Soujiro saw a light like the one Shishio has in Gyenryu. He had the very same principle Shishio had. He said that the strong shall survive and the weak shall perish and that is that. He was no different.  
  
"I-" he let out "I want to challenge you my dear man. I've not fought anyone at all really. I'm a scholar than a warrior. Only Kreuss(he said it without the /s/) and Modhra were the ones whom I've seen fight. I can tell you are one too. Grab a sword from my artillery and I'll grab mine."  
  
Soujiro saw Gyenryu stand up for the first time. He didn't appear as what he assumed. Under the covers, the clothes he expected to see where old, tattered Japanese clothing that the doctor had given him to wear. The truth was that he was wearing a formal-like clothing that a European would wear.(A/N: If you know Yutaro from one of the episodes in Ruroni Kenshin, he dresses exactly like that) He tied his somehow long hair into a ponytail, where he resembled Soujiro a little bit. Soujiro thought about a ghostly bride, but he never knew what that meant.  
  
Soujiro chose a nice Katana that reminded him of the ones he used when he was Shishio's right-hand man. Gyenryu, at first, chose something of the same as his, but then he returned it for a spear clad in leather with a lion's head at the base.  
  
Gyenryu positioned the way Hajime Saitou positions himself. His stance also reminded him of Ounuma Usui's stance. He wasn't blind like Usui, but he had a mixture of the two strong fighter's stance. Is he rather going to have the mixture of their skill too?  
  
He waited for Soujiro to move first. He commanded, "Fight me the way you'd fight your brother for gold. I don't mind getting beaten up badly. I'd rather die than be thought a coward. Go on. I won't be mad."  
  
He looked at Gyenryu as if he was concerned he'd hurt him. He was already sick, but is there really any reason for him to die just for a fair fight?  
  
Soujiro checked his shoe if it is right and he folded his clothing like the way he did when he fought Kenshin(the final battle where Soujiro's past was revealed). He was up on his toes to begin his Tenken abilities. SWISH! Gyenryu striked with much force. Soujiro was able to dodge it while at the same time being able to move faster than what the eyes may see.  
  
"I've seen that,"Gyenryu spoke with quite a boast "That's the Shukuchi, isn't it? Modhra told me of that. You are able to move so fast, you move like the light. I can use that." Within that moment, he was able to do a perfect imitation. Soujiro was spellbound. It was flawlessly executed and exactly like the way he did. He was beginning to wonder if he had more to show.  
  
Gyenryu had a new stance like the one of Chou when he begins a fight. He dashed across the room and hollered, "This is MY Shun Ten Tatsu!"  
  
Soujiro gasped. Could that be his Shun Ten Tatsu? 


	13. Mimics, Murmurs and the Lion of Jodraul ...

A silence sat on the gap in Soujiro's hazed head. Gyenryu, without hesitation, unleashed a very frightening move that Soujiro never expected to be used on him. He let out a cry, "This is MY Shun Ten Tatsu!"  
  
Was it the same one Soujiro intended to use for killing Kenshin Himura?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 13: Mimics, Murmurs and the Lion of Jodraul Kreuss)  
  
Gyenryu dashed faster than Soujiro can and slid the spear into the ground. He landed on the floor without being seen by Soujiro, but he was able to hit Soujiro's shoulder by the force of the spear's base end. The lion was put there for a reason, perhaps it was because it can be used as a two-sided apparatus. Soujiro let out a sharp cry of pain and squirts of blood gushed from his shoulder. Gyenryu went to Soujiro with a much different attitude.  
  
"I say-" Gyenryu started "I thought of all the people, YOU would able to block that. I am sorry, my good man. Modhra taught me that."  
  
By then, pain didn't cloud Soujiro's mind. The fact that he had been mentioning the name Mohdra had been irritating. He asked who Mohdra is or was.  
  
Gyenryu was somehow dubious "You have been in this place for a long time, yet ye of little conscience, the owner of this place is Modhra! Kirashime should have been a more decent name than Mohblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah..."  
  
Soujiro understood only then. Modhra was Dr.Kirashime's first name. Though Gyenryu kept on fussing about the good doctor's name, Soujiro tended to himself. The blood had made him want to spew, but he resisted. This was embarrassing enough for him. The Shun Ten Tatsu he displayed was like Soujiro's only that the force he used on him was greater because of the added moves. If he'd known that was to happen, he could have dodged it by just stepping to his right rather than going backwards.  
  
Gyenryu didn't stop muttering to himself, and all Soujiro heard was 'blahblahblah...'. That was, until he heard him keep uttering the name of a fellow named "Jodraul Kreuss".  
  
He suddenly had the guts to make the grump cease, but it was harsh.  
  
"SUCH IMPUDENCE!! ARE YOU TRYING TO BE A FOOL?! THEN STOP YOUR FOOLISH OUTBURSTS AND LET ME SPEAK MY MIND!!!"  
  
Soujiro liked him a little less at that time and mumbled under his breath "Look who's having the outbursts..."  
  
The sharp pain on his shoulder reminded him of a bright day that anything that came to him was nothing and painless. Then, he had a friend whom he liked her for what she was in her weird sense. Then he remembered nothing at all, as if his memory had been sucked away. He never remembered the rain, nor the cold texture nor the misty-like scent that was then and shall always stay there. To him, it was all a dream, wasn't it?  
  
He relaxed a little after settling on his bed, "I AM sorry my good man. I just don't like being the outspoken. A King's descent is always the rudest."  
  
Sorry said it was alright and that he didn't care. He knew of a man, Houji Sadojima, who had rants and shouts like him. He however wasn't refined after noticing that he'd done that. After all, he was a tactician.  
  
Soujiro excused himself to leave as Gyenryu's eyes were drooping. He allowed him, saying he too needed to be alone to think. Then, he drifted off in his usual horrible sleep.  
  
The garden had been out of his head after he'd been there. It was like he never wanted to explore anything more beautiful than it. It reminded him of Kitsune, for a peculiar reason. No, not to him for he knew the reason why, but to you and I who are reading his thoughts and can't figure what ails him of any sort. The garden was filled with black butterflies and gloomy shades of color on the field. It never occurred to him that it just wasn't a garden. It was like a small, private moor. Heather and marsh surrounded it yet it was alive to the sights of the people who borded his home. That was all.  
  
This autumn morn, it wasn't barren the way it should have been. It was blooming like the springtime flowers and the trees around weren't loosing their leaves. They simply were, well, alive and growing.  
  
(A/N: Beware. This is the part of the chapter where a character with an accent pops out. If you can't understand him with an accent and I can't really put the direct translation for the fun of it, please email me thru my profile so that I can give you a MicrosoftWord version that has plain English. Try to speak as you read the lines where the man has a weird way of saying things. Thank You. Oh, by the way, I've done sketches on the characters. If you want to see them, let me know and I'll be happy to provide you with them.)  
  
A weasel passed him by. It looked like the same one that took his slipper on the day he arrived there and saw... saw... saw someone, he supposes.  
  
He chased after it, knowing that it may lead him to a clue to what his past in this place had been. He can't remember anything other than Kitsune, Taro and Gyenryu. Of course, the dear doctor, but there was nothing else on his mind.  
  
He was lead to a man dressed in ragged Japanese traditional clothing. It was formal in his case, with leather shoes that weren't slippers. A stray slah mark on his nose was swollen and his light brownish hair reflected under the shadows of the sun. The weasel ran up to his shoulders and he gave it an acorn to chew on. He heard the young man, whom seemed around Gyenryu's age or atleast 21or so.  
  
Soujiro walked towards him to greet and be greeted. He wanted to meet this character and know what was his story in the house. The silence of the autumn day was present, and he didn't know what to say.  
  
He was lucky that the man greeted first, "Von Veidermeeshein..."  
  
"Gesundheit?" Soujiro meant as a 'Bless you' to him who seemed to sneeze the words out.  
  
"Neeh! I is not geermin! You is eenglish baa' jhafan clowt'?"  
  
"Pardon? I don't understand what you're saying." Soujiro apologized. The man spoke with is nose and his accent was terrifyingly uncomprehensible. What I tell you now is how Soujiro heard it, rather than what he meant. I can't translate it for you because this is the part where I put laughter in the tale.  
  
"Eeenglish! Eenglish! Jhafan you 'er!!"  
  
Soujiro wanted to so badly burst into laughter. The accent plus the nose-talking was definitely hilarious, and even the expression the man had on his face. Pitiful, the weasel ran off.  
  
"Kiss Me!!! Kiss Me!!!" he shouted.  
  
Soujiro coughed, "I'm a boy, for your information! Even if my hair is longer than yours, there is no reason to beckon me a girl!" He was humiliated by that statement because he looked nothing like a girl in anyway.  
  
"KISS ME!!! KISS ME!!!" he shouted even louder.  
  
Soujiro put his hand over his mouth to cover himself in case the bizarre man went out of control. Taro darted to the European-Russian- Norwegian-whatever man to help.  
  
"Moodre eez not 'eer? Toro Kiss me, voo' ees 'zis?"  
  
Taro grinned and said to Soujiro, "I guess you haven't met Mr.Kreuss. He's a mix and you know.."  
  
"No, I don't know," Soujiro detested "Why is he saying 'kiss me' if he seems to know what a boy looks like? I'm not a girl!! Why I-"  
  
"Calm down, my friend. You see, he's a foreign-"  
  
"I is forees! Forees!" the man interrupted.  
  
"He came somewhere from the north and has a very deep accent. 'Kiss me' is how he says Kirashime. He knows grandad isn't here. He barely remembers my name most of the time, so he calls me Kirashime or 'Kissme'."  
  
Soujiro blushed. He never suspected it had all been a mistake.  
  
"Vell, my neem ees Jodraul(A/N: pronounced as Zhodroll), son of ze familee of Kreuss(A/N: pronounced as Crew). Eef you not meend, I is ask you if Jhafan or Eenglish!"  
  
"Oh, I see. I'm Japanese but I know English well" Soujiro apologized without saying it. Taro left, to the sound of what seems to be another screaming patient. It couldn't be Gyenryu, because this one was a girl's.  
  
"You ees not leevigh 'eer?"  
  
"What?" Soujiro asked. He wasn't used to someone talk that way.  
  
"You ess Jhafanees bot you ess not arond 'eer. I neveer saw you."  
  
Soujiro chuckled, "No, I'm not from around here really. Can't even remember when I was here first."  
  
"Zen you ees forees too! I ess forees from ze north. I vas leevigh in sno' mo'ntains by Valachia. I vas loven' eet zer. Not varm atal. Not 'ery varm."  
  
Soujiro just nodded. He assume though that foris meant stranger in his language or, if he knew, Latin.  
  
"Zey are saying zat zis ees same climat, bot no, zis not!"  
  
He had a long pause but came back with his humorous accent, "Mi papa ees traveloor on fairybots..."  
  
Soujiro indignantly replied, "Your father is a fairy?"  
  
"NO! NO, NO! Me papa ees riding fairybots! Fairybots on vater!"  
  
Soujiro smiled. He meant Ferry boats. He should have known.  
  
"Mi papa bore a voman..."  
  
Soujiro answered with a jeering tone, "Your father was boring?"  
  
"No. You ees meestakin. Mi papa, vell, voman carry me."  
  
"Huh?" he responded this time.  
  
"MI PAPA IMPREGNATED A VOMAN! Zer! You ees understand now, eh!"  
  
Soujiro was close to roar out laughs. It was just too hilarious to talk to him. You would too if you've heard of him speak. Sometimes, he saw steam or wind blow out through his nose. It was just too funny to be kept.  
  
"Mi mama dees of mi and I is fairybot with mi papa. Papa not leek me 'ery much so 'e left mi eer. I vas takin' tests to see eef I is sick. At mi last test, papa left mi and I is to stayin' eer."  
  
That was mean, Soujiro thought. A father would leave his son somewhere in a distant part of the world to just get rid of him. He could have just slayed him. The world was cruel indeed to many people, he thought again. The world was cruel indeed.  
  
"After zat, I vas able to become a leeon..."  
  
"What did you say?" Soujiro asked "By what I heard, I thought you said you become a lion..."  
  
"Zat ees because I can." 


	14. The Burke's Evidence and Grim Dulcet

This is a beginning chapter where you start to learn more of the many mysterious characters of this story. Of Gyenryu the mimicry warrior, witty and wise Chiriko and Sai, whose past, present and future is unknown, the chapters after this are where the pieces somehow fit together. There is very little evidence that Soujiro had dreamt this all, but maybe there is proof after all.  
  
I'm also going to release the biggest part of the plot in the next two chapters. This is the link to it. Please send me your thoughts about what you thought before in the story and if you like/dislike any of them so far. The story will bend towards a darker side and will have some violence and gore that is under the PG-13 genre. If you have a very soft stomach (that makes you vomit if you just hear the word vomit), I advise you don't read chapters 16 and beyond. Things would be grim and darker than the old ones and I certainly won't hold back on deaths and revenge. Love would also be in the air for our dear Soujiro and you'll find out whom it is that he had his eyes set on.  
  
I'm also going to address the fact that I'm almost drawn into making a Mary Sue or Mary Sue Deville. Don't worry, I won't. It's one of the things I don't like to do so if you spot anything that make any of the characters Mary Sue-like, feel free to tell me about it.  
  
Do also know that school will be back here from where I am. I might post atleast just twice or once a month. I'm sorry about that. Schools tough and I've got a site to finish by deadline and the after-school activities would be lounging my mind. Terribly sorry about coming delays. ===== Jodraul claimed he can turn into a lion as well. Such magic was doubted and most likely a lie. Is there any reason for Soujiro to believe his comment?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 14: The Burke's Evidence and Grim Dulcet)  
  
Without any moment's cease, Jodraul transfigured into a lion. His sandy hair became a golden yellow mane, which appeared to shine like the sun's light. His slash mark was still visible, but within the lion's visage it appeared as if it was a bullet shot.  
  
"Zat on mi nose ees from ze 'unter vhen I vas een a foreest." He stated with a light purr. His voice was deeper, yet he maintained a clear and audible (more of, understandable) tone.  
  
Soujiro, on whom we read the details, felt pleased that he guessed right, but pitied him on the gruesome scar he had to keep. Jodraul, at that moment, was a full-grown lion. His teeth could be seen, and blood crumbled in its tips. His lips licked the soft part near his mouth and he crouched as if he had seen a delicious feast.  
  
Soujiro nervously trembled. He knew what Jodraul was after.  
  
Jodraul circled Soujiro as if he saw an enemy. In a split-second, he jumped to Soujiro and tried gnashing his teeth into his shoulder. Soujiro was quick to dodge, but his mouth let out a scream of fear, which he attempted not to. He fell on his back and the lion stood on his feet  
  
"Mr.Kreuss. What the-" a voice exclaimed. It was Taro. "What are you doing lying there on the ground Sou-kun?"  
  
Soujiro panted with relief as he scanned around for the lycantrophe- like man (that means werewolf). He was pulled off the ground, "DIDN'T YOU SEE WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! A LION WAS ALMOST GOING TO EAT ME!"  
  
Taro sniggered, "Yeah, and my kid sister married my dad. What are you thinking of? You screamed so loud and so-"  
  
"THAT WAS BECAUSE I DID SEE SOMETHING!"  
  
"Sou-kun, please calm down and lower your voice. It's a bit late. Why don't you just go to your room and eat the sashimi Boten made us. My sister makes great sashimi. I told her about you, but I never knew that you were like this."  
  
Soujiro defended, "You would too if you were about to be eaten by a monster! Why don't you believe me?"  
  
"I don't see anything or anyone but you. Mr.Kreuss was here a while ago. What happened to him?"  
  
Soujiro, thinking he'd doubt that he'd be believed, said, "He-he went to bed."  
  
"You should be too, my friend. Look, tomorrow we'll go to the tavern and I'll show you this great place under it. Konbanwa (Good night), my friend."  
  
He left in a hurry as if another patient had needed him. Terrified, Soujiro ran to his room. He was becoming less brave as he used to be.  
  
"Why is this happening to me?" he said to himself "Why am I becoming a bit more curious and more of a wuss!"  
  
He reached his room and the scent of sashimi filled his room unlike that of the food he's had on his wanderings. The chess set, which intrigued him, was bare. Not a single piece was there except for the Black King. Soujiro thought it odd that the pieces disappeared and not a trace was there. Then, it occurred to him that he didn't care about the chess set at all. The wooden box that lay on his pillow and silver slate were nothing to him too. Even though he had never seen what was inside the slate, he never bothered with it. It's just stuff.  
  
He slept soundly that night, but he kept hearing a voice, which uttered all through the night, "Shine! Yurusunai! Omae o korosu!" Of course he'd understand Japanese, but we rather can't because he was asleep and we can only read his thoughts.  
  
He tossed and turned and wiggled in the covers. He often found himself facing the window that once led him to his near-death. He couldn't remember the dream he had. He convinced himself that he never dreamed at that time. It was just his imagination laying games on him.  
  
The next day, he felt as if he had been mugged. His back felt pressure and his head ached so badly. He wondered if he was up to Taro's scheme in the tavern. He stood up and got the courage to walk in a very slouchy or timid manner.  
  
"Ossu! Daijobu ka? (Hi! Are you alright?)" Taro greeted.  
  
Soujiro's eyes still drooped and closed and his mouth didn't reply. Taro assumed he didn't feel very well, but was all enthusiastic, "Ora- (I- )"  
  
"Doo Itashimashite. Soo ka. (I'm okay. Really.)" Soujiro responded fast. He felt like talking in his native language because he remembered the voice that kept whispering all through the night. He thought about it. Die. I'll never forgive you. I'm going to kill you. That was what the words meant, but he was too tired and too confused to think about them.  
  
"Ne, nande? (Well, what?) What's the matter?"  
  
"Just leave me alone. I don't feel like myself."  
  
Taro obeyed. Soujiro didn't appear friendly that morning and neither would be better in the afternoon. He didn't feel like himself that day as if we were to wake up and see ourselves in another body.  
  
Taro set up the table for Soujiro. He didn't want to upset his friend, although he did mention as they both sat down, "You'll still be going with me, right?"  
  
Soujiro grumbled, "I guess so but that tavern was the place that I almost got killed."  
  
"I- Well, I was thinking about bringing along a couple of father's old rapiers. That and a bottle of whiskey from grandad's wine cellar. He would often allow me, so why not? It beats buying from that place where they force you to have a jug more sake than you're supposed to."  
  
"I just want to know why you're dragging me into this."  
  
"I just" Taro enlightened "Wanted to show you this awesome thing. You'll love it no matter how stubborn you are or no matter."  
  
Soujiro was still grumpy, but the thought of seeing something in the tavern without getting into trouble was splendid in his terms. He just wondered though what was that that Taro wanted to show him that he claimed he'd like. In his condition, why would he even care? He didn't care about the chess set, or his state. However, he did remember drinking something. He continued eating while he pondered on that.  
  
After his meal, Taro took him to the front gate and handed him a rapier, which Soujiro felt awkward to hold. It wasn't like his Kikuichi Norimure. It had a firm handle and the blade was rusty. Taro took a small bottle with him and filled it with a liquid before they set out.  
  
Taro yawned, "Rather early for me. Chiriko and Boten will be arriving soon."  
  
In a few minutes, a carriage arrived at the gateway. Out came little Chiriko and a woman around the age of fifteen with dark earthly-colored hair. She was dressed in a war nurse's dress (A/N: If you'd like, I can send you a picture of it if you would manage to contact Me.) and had small rectangular eyeglasses that made her eyes seem large and bulgy. Chiriko grasped her hand and was jumping about the place.  
  
"Boten," Taro glumly and uninterestedly spoke.  
  
"Well, well, if it isn't my older brother. Long time, isn't it? I think it's been- I don't know- twelve years since I last saw you."  
  
"I was twelve then. That didn't necessarily mean it was twelve years ago, just seven since mum and dad split."  
  
Boten, the young arrogant woman, teased, "So, where's the old dead beat? I'm sure you've been fiddling with her a lot. Of course, matriarch always knew she was a ragamuffin. She knows not how to live the good life."  
  
Taro resented, "If I would have known you were jealous of her before, I could have spent more time with you; but all you did when I stayed at home was make fun of the way these people live."  
  
"You do know these savages eat raw fish? Why, that's complete treason in our religion, brother dearest."  
  
"As if you ever cared about religion. Father is one of these you call "savages. You have to admit you're part savage too."  
  
"No, no. I am nowhere in these lands. Look at you, all clad in Japanese clothing and eating and drinking their concoctions. These natives are no g-."  
  
"You would be native too, since you are native to France."  
  
"Bagshallows, you areblahblahblahblahblahblahblah."  
  
The jeering went on and on, but Chiriko decided to go and enter. Soujiro looked back, trying not to listen to the rude comments of both sides of the conversation. He saw behind a tree a shadow. That shadow was unfamiliar to him, but he should know that the shadow was that of someone close to his heart. 


	15. Gyenryu’s Trifle Mistakes and the Discov...

The two siblings argued about their nationalities and their petty characteristics while Soujiro felt anxious about leaving. The tavern wasn't something he missed, but the tables turned on him and he felt the urge to go back for some unknown reason. Chiriko went inside, like before, hoping to see his friend. It's been a long time. Had he forgotten the argument he had with his father?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 15:Gyenryu's Trifle Mistakes and the Discovery)  
  
"People thought you'd never change, you sly devil. Look at you now. It's as if you married a yeoman, dressed in that- that- lady of the night's dress!"  
  
"Pathetic, you are. You used to be better with your tongue. Father always praised that you knew so much in vocabulary and cares not notice me! Me, the middle child!"  
  
"It wasn't my fault mother made you then."  
  
"Don't you dare insult MY mother!!"  
  
"For your information, she's my mother too. You shouldn't be so sharp either, insulting father as if he knew absolutely nothing.."  
  
"Youblahblahblahblahblahblah.."  
  
The fight seemed to go on and on. The rising of the sun had passed minutes, or what seemed to be hours, ago. The two kept taunting the other side and neither wanted to quit. Soujiro thought about how the two appeared to fight like Shishio's many comrades, especially Kamatari and Chou (A/N: I'm trying to avoid using their full names). The difference was that these two were siblings. Soujiro often thought siblings got along with each other. It was only the adopted kid that had the worst of them.  
  
The rain.. The cold rain.. It was as if he was returned to that horrible night. No, not horrible. It was just a cold rainy night. Blood curdled on their lips and the tears from his eyes were swept away by the raindrops. Bodies lay in crimson beds and a head lay under a horrid house. A smile he grasped and the stranger with his sword. His beginning, his truth. The night that he killed them. The night he was set free.  
  
"Are you just going to stand there all day?"  
  
Soujiro awoke from his daze. Taro repeated, "Are you just going to stand there all day? I'd be obliged to leave you with this bafoon!"  
  
Soujiro shook his head and hurried out to Taro. The quarrel was over, well, a bit. The two still stared at each other as they went their separate ways. Soujiro inquired, "Have you and your sister ever got along?"  
  
"Me?" Taro sarcastically remarked "She's the one with the problem with me. She never understood love and all. She just thinks that when you're poor, you're poor. You can't mingle with people that aren't as aristocratic as you."  
  
Soujiro smirked. Taro never acted like an aristocrat before and he never had an impression he'd be one. He acted mature at first, but you'd see a childish person when you get to know a bit better of him.  
  
Taro, however, confessed, "I do admit, though, that I don't get along with people easily. Master Gyenryu disliked me when I first entered his room. I tried stealing hi silver slate and almost got away with it. He did scream in my ear, which I practically abhorred all my life. Never wanted to hear about that slate ever again!"  
  
Soujiro smirked again. He remembered the time he too got screamed at when he first entered. He also tried taking the silver slate. He didn't mention to Taro that he got the silver slate in his room, but he just didn't care to see what was inside it.  
  
"There's also little Soushi. He bit my finger when I first met him. Thought I was an intruder. I did pity him when I heard he was blind."  
  
Soujiro smiled, as Taro went on, "Nagi was kind at first, but I think I got mad at her. She's just stubborn and skeptical. She didn't believe my stories. I used to see ghosts and monsters in that house. The more she tried to convince me how much of a madman I were, I got that subject off my head and never saw one ever again. Cold and pessimistic girl, that's what I think."  
  
They were inches away from the tavern. He held up the bottle and then, a stout dumpy man went out and said to them, "Aye. Enter laddies!"  
  
Soujiro felt relieved that he didn't see that girl again. He felt embarrassed that a girl got the best of him and his money and he didn't even get his drinks still. Taro went on with his statements, "The only person I never liked in that house was that witch. Her sister was awfully charming, but she was charmingly awful! I can't stand that witch!"  
  
"Then, there's also Sai."  
  
Soujiro stopped in his tracks for a moment. He heard of that name before, but he couldn't recall when and where.  
  
"What's wrong? Looks like you've seen a ghost or something."  
  
Soujiro was stumped again. He saw the girl that offered him sake but then took his money without him saying a word.  
  
"Taro-kun! Aye to that bottle! Oh- that's rat boy.."  
  
He catcalled, "Who are you calling a rat, you fiend?! You took all my money and never gave me my drink!"  
  
Taro looked at the girl and spoke, "You do know, Meria, that he's my friend. You ought to give him his money back."  
  
"Aw, Taro.. I won't get my lot!"  
  
"Meria!" Taro raged.  
  
She handed him his money back and he counted them immediately. It was exact, and he was glad. Taro thanked her and whispered something which he heard like, "We'll be going to the Lakewaste's. Don't go looking for us, okay."  
  
She nodded and let them alone. Taro beckoned Soujiro to a staircase that led them down. He had a torch with him and Soujiro carried a box of matches. Taro repeated his words before the woman Meria came to them, "Then there's Sai. Nice but arrogant girl. Nagi never had a nerve of her, I don't reckon they even fought. I can't stand her! She'd go up to me and often challenge me to a duel. She would fall flat on her feet and she'd still boast at how great she was at fencing. I didn't hate her as much as I hate Kitsune. Mind you, her brother died."  
  
Soujiro appeared to have understood a bit now. He remembered the lie that a girl had often mentioned. Soushi, whom she claimed as her brother, wasn't her brother. The girl whom he remembered as Sai must've had a very bad trauma, so she went on in an insane life and thought of Soushi as her brother, since his sister was dead too.  
  
The path was dangerous at the point where the torch kept blowing off. There were weasels and raccoons trying to get in their way. Taro engaged in cutting their heads off with pleasure and kept proclaiming, "I just hate animals."  
  
Soujiro understood the game they played, and he also sliced their heads until the steps on the stairs were painted red. They often slipped because of the gushing blood of the critters that swirled round and round their feet. Taro took off his zori at one point and let his toes feel the blood squish between them. Soujiro delighted in seeing his companion bask in the ghoulish contentment he had.  
  
Soon, he noticed that the box of matches had none anymore. He tried to get Taro's attention, but a mole jumped into his hair and he deliberately tried to mash it into the wall. After a few struggles, he managed to kill it and at the same time, get his hair messed up and covered in the guts and gore of the beast.  
  
Soujiro imagined walking in the dark while his accomplice cleaned his hair and take the mole's liver off his ear. When he finally got the chance to squeak "We", Taro beat him and even hollered with excitement, "We're here atlast!"  
  
Taro grimaced at the beauty of it. Soujiro was petrified, not with fear but with awe and amazement. It was a sealed cave under the lake. Above the window they looked out off, fishes and many other creatures swam around in spectacular moves. There were many colorful and vivid plants that made the undersea cave appear to be a blessing.  
  
"T-T-Taro," he stuttered "T-This is amazing!"  
  
"Yep, it has been. I love it here. Not that many people knew of this place. Grandad built it when he built the hospital dojo. He said he wanted a place where he can escape to. Only Grandad and me knew of this. Boten was jealous that me and him told each other stuff."  
  
The water was clear and blue, yet above it appeared green and murky. You couldn't see a single object in the lake and would assume that it is a dead lake. A large dead lake.  
  
There were many windows and places where you can view outside the cave. It wasn't really a cave, since there is no other opening but the one they emerged from. It was mostly made of fresh earth and clay. Paint were on the walls, where there displays many images. Some where the winged women and children and some where riding the griffin Gyenryu talked about.  
  
"I don't suppose you don't like it. Yuri never saw this ever because she hated stepping in the dark. You have to be mad to hate it."  
  
"I can't hate it. It's too beautiful!" Soujiro exclaimed.  
  
Sea creatures circled and danced around the area they were. They seem to like being watched by humans. Their fins and tails were dabbed in many shades and hues, and their eyes appear to be shaped like stars. Bigger creatures joined the ensemble, and they would often create shapes that were artistically lovely. The plants and herbs under the lake swayed and swirled in accompaniment. It was definitely a beautiful site.  
  
"It is sad though, that Soushi wouldn't have the chance to see this ever." Taro said, in a very grim and lonely tone. 


	16. The Revelation of Many Faces

The statement that Taro had said was terrifying. To Soujiro, who had recently remembered that it had been long since he's visited the little tot, it was uneventful. It isn't likely that the doctor would allow him to leave, since he is sick. Did Taro mean something else?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 16:The Revelations of the Many Faces)  
  
Taro grunted, "He's just too young."  
  
"What do you mean? He could still come here and see this, er-" Soujiro said, unsure of what he meant himself.  
  
"He's heard of this from his sister. She often told him stories that weren't exactly real, but it was believable. As skeptical and stubborn as she was, she hadn't any right to prevent her brother from being one too. Luckily he's not the type."  
  
Taro clenched his hand in fury; "I can't stop thinking about bringing him here because he has a sad case. It's just that, well, the problem. The problem is that he can't see anything. He's blind; and now, without seeing anything at all, he'll die."  
  
Soujiro felt like he had been struck by lightning. Soushi is going to die? Why? He's just too young!  
  
"You mean to say he's going to die?! Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
Taro explained, "I'm not a professional doctor. I'm just learning. One day, I went to see him. I think it was yesterday when he yelled. He had a dreadful case of pneumonia. I knew he'd catch it sometime, I just hate his parents for having him HIV positive. Now he isn't immune."  
  
"Is that bad?" Soujiro asked, having no knowledge whatsoever about the field of medicine.  
  
"Yes," he grieved "It's bad. He'll die soon."  
  
Soujiro forgot about the wonders of the underground cave. It was too depressing to enjoy their stay when someone that's close to their heart is dying.  
  
"I took you down here because I want you to help me think. I don't know what to say or do to the poor boy. I asked him once what he wanted out of his whole life. He wished he could fly. He also said he wished he could be fish. I joked around him a bit, but it was no use. He'll be dead before grandad would be here."  
  
He suggested to Taro, "Why don't you tell Sai? She'll know what Nagi would do."  
  
Taro raised his eyebrow in disbelief, "You think I'd ask a ghost to help me?"  
  
Again, he had been thunderstruck. Sai couldn't be dead, could she?  
  
"B-B-But.."  
  
He was stunned and sweating. He knew she was real. He even grabbed her hand once and ghosts aren't solid. She's not misty in appearance either.  
  
"Liar! Just because you hate someone doesn't mean you have to be so, so-"  
  
"What are you saying? It's true. She died a couple of years back. Nagi died a year before her. You can't expect me to link the world of the dead to ours. That's physically impossible!"  
  
Soujiro couldn't believe what he heard. She wasn't dead, she just couldn't. How could he have talked to her and even confronted her without being cold or smelling an old musty odor.  
  
Taro told, "Sai was about to be married when she died. We just found her body wearing her bridal gown lying on the ground as if she had been bitten and ripped into shreds."  
  
Soujiro remembered. The bride that kept chasing him, the one that kept calling him "Gyen Maten" It was Sai! So that would mean. Who was the person he made friends with?  
  
"You-you're saying that Sai wasn't, er, with Soushi or is she?" Soujiro asked to be corrected.  
  
"Nagi's his sister. Sai's brother was long dead before anything else happened. Sai and Master Gyen were so close, but Gyenryu also favored her best friend Nagi. He only finds her odd in the fact that she loves the rain."  
  
Soujiro understood even more. Nagi was the one he always talked to and mended his wounds. The main thing is: How was he able to converse with them and why was Nagi using the name Sai all the time to call herself?  
  
Taro continued, "Nagi went a bit crazy when the doctor didn't believe her once. She claimed she saw a lion out her window. The doctor said she was only hallucinating. I knew the gods were on my side. Karma. She became so insane she called herself Sai because of Sai's cocky and arrogant attitude that it's so hard to believe anything she says."  
  
It was another thing Soujiro understood only then. Taro seemed to be into telling the history of the patient-friends of his.  
  
"Nagi died almost the way Sai did. She almost got poisoned, but not that. She had tuberculosis, but I don't think that was it. Sai tried to find out what happened. All there was to be used as evidence was a bloodied cross and her neck having those bites. I say it's wolves. There's also lots of bruises and wounds on her. Then, a year after, Sai died of the same thing. Other girls died the same way. I even heard that Yuri died while I was away."  
  
Soujiro felt sorry for him. He was so in love with Yuri that it seemed Taro and her were one. He didn't understand one thing still: How was he able to confront those apparitions?  
  
"I think Master Gyen and Soushi went mad too. He kept saying that we should check the chessboard in your room as evidence. I say it's bafoonish. Soushi said his sister couldn't have died. He always plays with her in the storm. Poor kid."  
  
"It's true, though," Soujiro defended "There is something in the chessboard. You ought to know it could hold notes inside. Soushi was right too. I could also see those two. I've even confronted Sai- I mean Nagi- more than thrice! You should believe me!"  
  
He sneered, "He's just sad that his bride-to-be was dead just a minute before they were to be wed. Don't trust him. You've heard him hollering."  
  
"That's because Kitsune put a-" Soujiro stopped. He saw a woman who had wings dig the ground and he felt weak yet strong. He collapsed and fell back. He didn't become unconscious, only weak.  
  
"No, Kitsune couldn't have killed any of those girls. She's not that strong. Maybe she is strong enough, but I doubt it."  
  
"Then, what do you suppose did all this?" Soujiro proclaimed.  
  
"Soujiro, my friend, there are many mysteries in the world. None of them are closed to those who have an open mind."  
  
His eyes blinked hard and they made him fall a bit somnolent. He arose in his room, with a wet napkin on his forehead. The lamp by his bed nearly blinded him. He somehow understood the past of the strangers that became his acquaintances. He saw a figure right out his door. IT beamed bright, white light and it was brighter than his lamp. She was a woman, and she had wings.  
  
He spoke to it, "Who are you?"  
  
"I am no one in particular. I am an angel," She sang.  
  
He recognized the voice. It was the first he heard before Dr.Kirashime first talked to him. It had a lovely voice and it uttered "De profondus clamo adite Domine".  
  
"I met you before, but you said something which I presumed Latin. What did it mean?"  
  
She smiled, "I've given you a gift. It is a gift that you cannot just take for granted. You are able to see what other people can't. I wanted you to understand what love was. I wanted you to understand what hate was. I also want you to understand forgiveness and acceptance."  
  
"You haven't succeeded. You just gave me a curse. You made me see terrifying things."  
  
"You're a post-cognit (post-cognitive) and you'll learn a lot with your responsibilities. Right now, you've learned nothing yet. It was because there is something bothering you for the past few days."  
  
He blushed again. He felt stupid for blushing then and there. She'd know what he was up to. Would she?  
  
"I know what your heart feels. You are in love, Sou-kun."  
  
Soujiro blushed again. The truth was, he was in love. The one thing is, if he'd want to tell the angel who it was. 


	17. Beginning of the Tale

A blank face was seen in Soujiro's visage. He had no other answer for the angel, though it was true he did feel a liking to someone. He wondered in the few brief seconds that he had if he could lie to the beautiful creature that had given him an accursed gift. Would his plan work on the heavenly warrior?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 17: The Beginning of the Tale)  
  
A/N: I named it this because this is where the story becomes a little bit more colorful, and a little bit more gruesome. No, I don't mean every sentence I write would contain bad words and gore. I meant that the story itself might contain hints of blood and death. There will be gore sometimes and I won't hesitate on killing a few of the characters.  
  
The angel looked at him innocently. He hadn't any idea how dark it was really though it had been a couple of days since he collapsed at the undersea cave. The shining light that came from the angel's delicate wings occupied every area of his room and it was so large it curled its tips that were on the ceiling.  
  
"No. I don't like anyone; " he fibbed.  
  
She smiled bigger than before and her brightness faded away. She vanished little by little and vocalized in a song, "You are only lying to yourself."  
  
He murmured in annoyance, "Why did she have to ask me that of all the things!"  
  
He took of the wet piece of cloth from his forehead and stood up awkwardly. He was still dizzy, but he wanted to visit Soushi. His mind was drifting off in the clouds. He couldn't concentrate. He didn't feel fully like himself still, but he was determined to reach Soushi before anything had happened. There was no time to lose, until.  
  
CRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Soujiro landed on his back and his shoulder felt squeezed by the force that had knocked him down. He looked up and dusted himself. The person that he had collided with was on the floor and, as it appears, knocked out.  
  
The figure was that of a female, Soujiro could see from afar. He drew closer to apologize, but when he was there, he withdrew his courage. It was Kitsune.  
  
"What are YOU doing here?" Kitsune demanded. She was furious and stamped here feet as soon as she stood up. She was red with anger. It was definitely an awful day for Soujiro.  
  
"I-I-"  
  
She snorted sarcastically, "Well, I don't suppose that would count as an apology, wouldn't it? You best be off my tracks. See you around, Soujiro."  
  
Soujiro blushed, even more than before. Why? He thought. Why now? His face was red and his hands grew warmer and warmer. Her michiyu (overskirt) was ripped at one part. She trotted off with a mean expression. Soujiro wasn't pleased at all.  
  
Moaning echoed in the hall that was dark. No, it wasn't the hall of the silver mirror, where no light can penetrate. It was the hall Soushi remained lonely. Soujiro had his doubts about Sai, oh- Nagi, I mean. If she was dead, how could he know that she was there? What if she wasn't there? Thoughts scrambled his mind more and more while he remained there. He felt as if the little grain of facts were crushing his head like that of a huge boulder's power.  
  
He reached the silent room where the poor child rests. Four basins surrounded the left corner of the bed. Soushi's hakama was dripping with blood and even his eyes bled. Soujiro's mouth lay open and stupefied. It was a horrible site, a very horrible site.  
  
Soushi's eyes flickered and eventually, while Soujiro was changing the towel on his head with a fresh new soaked one, he raised his arms and tried to catch someone or something.  
  
"Sister! Where were you? Why haven't you been here? It's nearly a week before Christmas!" Soushi exclaimed with a bit of a peeved voice.  
  
The towel he had on his hand nearly fell. He didn't know whether he should tell the poor child that his sister was dead a long time ago. He stuttered, "Y-your sister, Soush-sh-shi. She's. She's. She's dead."  
  
The ill boy's face didn't change into a sac and lonely face. He actually smiled, "You are silly, Souji-chan. Nagi will never die. She promised me. She promised me."  
  
"Listen," Soujiro replied, "Your sister IS dead. Please accept that. She is dead."  
  
The dear child kept smiling. He coughed, and then spoke, "She didn't die. She only fell asleep. She told me. She already gave me her sole promise that she'll never leave me; and never did! She even left her haori (coat) here yesterday."  
  
Out of the silence, which Soujiro thought to be best, Soushi laughed.  
  
"What is THAT for? Are you laughing because you don't want to believe me?"  
  
Soushi slightly shook his head as a response. He was careful not to let another towel, which sat on his shoulder, fall down. It was filled with steaming hot water. It was the hottest, but the most relieving thing he ever had.  
  
He giggled more, "You don't understand people here, do you Souji- chan?"  
  
Soujiro wanted THAT time to blush, but fate didn't want to. He didn't understand what he meant, if it actually meant that he was confused.  
  
"You see, this is a special place with special people. Not everyone here is like everyone outside."  
  
"Ah." Soujiro commented as if he was amazed, although I can assure you, he just didn't want a little kid to be smarter than he was.  
  
"Nobody really leaves this place, not really. When someone here is way attached, they stay. It's only if they aren't way attached is when they do leave."  
  
Another riddle, Soujiro said in his head. Why is this happening now? I only came here because I'm concerned about him. Now he's torturing me with his fickle words. A twisted game, this is, that you've given me.  
  
"I don't think my sister is dead, Souji-chan. She's just resting sometimes. Then, she comes back to visit me and nurse me. I mayn't like it when she doesn't listen to me sometimes, but it's what brothers and sisters often do. Do you have any?"  
  
He twiddled his thumbs, with the towel sinking into the deep end of the basin. The nightmares he had. The sufferings that he was bestowed upon by his cruel siblings. Blood, plainly blood and tears under the rain was all he wanted to remember.  
  
"Soujiro! Baka (Idiot))! Why are you late? I wanted that sake minutes ago! *whip* You aren't going to have dinner for a week because of this! No? Well, I definitely will! *whip*."  
  
"Soujiro."  
  
"Soujiro!"  
  
"SOUJI-CHAN!"  
  
"Huh?" Soujiro snapped. He had gazed into the past he despised.  
  
Soushi, though sick, appeared mad and more annoyed than he was, "Need I repeat myself, Souji-chan? I was asking you-"  
  
"N-no," he lied.  
  
"No?" Soushi mimicked, "You don't have any brothers or-"  
  
"I SAID NO! Can you read my lips? NO!"  
  
Tears streamed down his eyes in regret. In all his life, he'd never been treated like everyone else. His cries weren't loud, but Soujiro knew what he did was wrong. He shouldn't have shouted so vigorously and uncaringly.  
  
His hands wiped off the dampness on his small cheeks, "Please, don't cry. I'm sorry. It's just that- It's just that I never really had a family. I was only adopted."  
  
The sober cries halted, but he sniveled, "What's adopted?"  
  
Words came across his mind. He didn't know how to explain what adopted was.  
  
"Adopted means you grew in your mommy's heart, not her tummy," a voice defined.  
  
Soujiro was about to disagree, until he turned to look at the guest and saw it was Sai- I mean Nagi.  
  
"What are you doing here?" He asked.  
  
She grinned and said with a bit of a drawling voice, "Why? Am I supposed to be dead and buried? I came here to see how my brother's doing."  
  
"Nagi-chan! I'm so happy you're here!" Soushi trembled as he stood up and went over to embrace his sister. His hands were able to go around her. She was solid, like a real person. This time, however, she was a bit skinnier than she's supposed to be. Her skin was paler and more wrinkled. Her eyes had rings around them (A/N: I don't mean that there are huge circles. What I mean is something like eye shadow only that it isn't make- up. It's more like the ones you get when you've played video games or watched television waaay to long or even if you didn't get 10 nights worth of sleep.).  
  
Soujiro raised himself up to greet her, only he wanted proof she was dead. He came up to her and gave her a hug too. He could feel her skin, her hair and everything that makes something human (A/N: I see readers who are green-eyed at the moment). He could smell an odor, the kind that you'd smell if you've been to a burial. He even felt her cold and clammy. She had signs that she was dead, but it didn't convince him enough.  
  
"You can't be. You just can't be-"  
  
"Dead?" She interrupted, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I am. I really am."  
  
Prejudicially, he walked around her and examined her, "Tell me then. What makes you dead? You can't be a ghost. You're flesh and blood, I bet."  
  
In a blink of an eye, she vanished into thin air. Not a trace of her was left and she couldn't be that fast to just run and/or hide.  
  
"Nagi-chan? Where are you? Show yourself!" He shouted in the room.  
  
A voice rang in his ear, "I'm right here behind you."  
  
He quickly turned around; she was there. He had his doubts, but he was surprised at that feat. He proudly announced, "That's certainly a trick you've learned from you father. Can't you do something I CAN believe?"  
  
She didn't frown at all to look upset. She took a dagger from her pocket (A/N: people lucky enough to have their e-mail in my list can receive a picture of Nagi and the rest of the characters in this story in an e-mail I'm going to send. Unfortunately, I only have one person. The other e-mails have been blocked).  
  
With the dagger in her possession, she slid it on her wrist. 


	18. Black Butterflies Hiding from the Silver...

Blood splattered all over the floor and Soujiro's eyes darted at the cut that she was supposed to bear. After all, the dagger was sharp and it was possible to sever her whole hand within one slash. Horror struck him, and the coldness he feels whenever she was with him turned even harsher. Soushi stayed calm, but his skin grew paler, just as pale as what his sister was. What had Nagi done now?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 18: Black Butterflies Hiding from the Silver Mirror)  
  
"Are you nuts?" Soujiro barked. Blood, buckets and loads of blood covered every inch of the floor. He immediately grabbed her hands and clasped them tight as if he was trying to glue them together with his hands.  
  
She was trembling. Soujiro could feel the frozen, yet soft texture of her. She smile remained as it was, but her smile was never a smile really. Her nose crinkled a little and her eyes closed. Tears fell from her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks. She whispered with the lowest most possible tone, "Stop... Stop it."  
  
Suddenly, all the blood that had poured on the floor became black. From what he could see, the black liquid took itself from the floor.  
  
Every single one took the shape of a butterfly. The fluttered around as their wings shed the black marks and had vivid colors, as much as a rainbow can produce. One of them flew to Soushi's hair. In the few seconds that Soujiro felt aghast and amazed, Soushi's hair turned yellow, pale yellow.  
  
The cuts that he assumed to lay on her arms cannot be touched. He took off his hands off her, and he was even more mortified. Her hands were clear. There was no trace at all that it had been cut or damaged.  
  
He muttered, "How? How is it-"  
  
"That I'm not hurt?" She added, "My friend, once you've passed on, you gain no physical pain. However."  
  
Her hand reached a butterfly that had one of its wings torn while it shed. More tears poured from her eyes. Soushi walked closer and embraced her. Soujiro placed his hands on her shoulder, but she seized them and grasped them.  
  
Chills from his spine evoked a less painful prick that made him want to collapse.  
  
"Do you think that everyone is able to accept themselves for what they are, though they wish that what they were weren't what they should be?"  
  
Soujiro knew this was another question that were to never leave his head. He shuddered and did his best to release his hands without her noticing it. He was, to his misfortune, can't do it. She clutched them tighter, with a much colder sense.  
  
She spoke with a lonely and distressed voice, "Do you think you could ever forgive me?"  
  
He was even more hazed. He wanted to shake his head, but he didn't comprehend what she said. What was he going to be mad at her for? She never did anything to him.  
  
"Of course I will," He remarked bluntly, "We're friends. Probably even more."  
  
He held in his arms the two sibling, "Yeah. We're more than friends; we're almost like brother and sister."  
  
To us who is reading his mind, he had nothing much to say at all, to tell you the truth. He didn't see her only as a friend. Neither did he think of her as a beau. She was something more. She was part of him, just like how Soushi is with her.  
  
A thud was the last word or sound ever heard there. Soushi had been awake for too long. It was not safe, in his condition, to be up and waste his breath on petty conversations. Nagi was about to carry him to his bed, but Soujiro had gotten hold of him first. He tucked the sick child in his bed, kissed him goodnight. Nagi did the same to him, and added a new hot pack/towel on his shoulder, the kind he liked most.  
  
They exited the area and strolled the halls to the room Soujiro slept in. They entered and found the chess set to be again played. "I never knew why," Soujiro stated, "It's always like that, I guess."  
  
Both sat down. Nagi took a slip of paper from her sleeve and showed it to him.  
  
"What's this all about?" Soujiro commented. There was hardly anything on the paper at all. There was only a little dot in the center of the page and it can hardly be seen.  
  
She spoke, "I've searched for it for you. It was a piece of the parchment you lost. It-"  
  
Soujiro interrupted her, "How did you know about the parchment?"  
  
"Gyen. Gyenryu made it for me. It was a map of the city where there are tunnels. Some type of underground cave, he said. He said he couldn't decipher it. I looked at it and I never understood it either. I only wanted to see Soushi happy again," She moped, but it wasn't that she pitied herself. She just wanted to please her brother.  
  
"Hmmm." Soujiro examined the piece of paper. He didn't want to tell her he had been to one of the underground caves. He didn't want her to feel bad, nor did he want to argue about it with her if she was skeptical. The piece of paper was no bigger than his hand. He concluded it was nothing more than just a piece of junk.  
  
Nagi pointed to the chessboard, "I know you knew that the chessboard was a secret parcel. I saw you once take the piece of paper, which was supposed to have saved my life. I also saw you once take the journal entry Saicho wrote after my funeral; but."  
  
Her fingers strayed and slid on the top of the set. The once golden rim was already thrown away, and the pieces slipped to the floorboards gently. She held it upright and showed him the mirror side of it.  
  
"So?" He said, wondering what she was about to do.  
  
"Do you notice something?" Her trembling voice asked rather drowsily.  
  
He nodded, "I see myself. What's the big deal?"  
  
Her index finger glided on the surface of it. That was the only time Soujiro become aware of it. In the middle of the mirror was a hole. The hole was big enough for him to stick three pieces of his hair, but nothing more. Even though he saw it, he still didn't get the point she wanted him to realize.  
  
"What's the whole point? What are you trying to say?"  
  
"This. The hole in the mirror; doesn't it strike you as much?" She replied enigmatically, "Do you see any resemblance at all to anything?"  
  
The puzzle tried him hard, and he doubted that all she said made any sense at all. Then, he remembered.  
  
Gyenryu's mirror.  
  
Soujiro bursted, "You mean to say this was part of Gyen's door. The mirror-"  
  
"Yes," She shouted, "It does. I hope you notice the way it doesn't show you what's exactly around you. Can't you see it? Can't you see that it's showing you something else? Another reflection perhaps?"  
  
True, Soujiro didn't see himself. He saw a man of his likeness, but not him. No, it was younger. Suddenly, it took another shape. It looked young, a very young boy. He was even more puzzled of the face.  
  
It was Soushi..  
  
It was Soushi, dying. 


	19. The Fact of Life and Death

A/N: I'm sorry it took me about a month to post the next chapter. I had writer's block and I STILL have writer's block. If there were anyway that you would be able to give me information (i.e. who is your favorite Character? What scene would you wish to see, or idea?). I've been troubled too by having too many homework. I guess I can't post quick as possible because I have to remain the best of the class year. I'm sorry if this chapter doesn't cut to the biggest potential of the ones before. Like I said, I STILL have writer's block.  
  
A/N2: Oh, for the pictures, I would need addresses posted to me. I'll try my best to look them up, but please email me to be easier at Unknown_phantom888@yahoo.com  
  
And now, on with the show. ======= The mirror's terrifying precognition gave horror in Soujiro's heart. He clasped the object in his hand, trying his best not to angle it to Nagi, whose heart might be even more severed if she saw the images. The torn head of the child lying on the floor was of plain murder, not death, but it appears to be deep. For there, there he saw the body of two people covered in blood.  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 19: Fact of Life and Death)  
  
"Sou-kun?" Nagi inquired, "What's wrong?"  
  
He managed to stutter a lie, "Oh. I-It's just n-nothing. I-I."  
  
His nervous voice can be depicted easily. He was afraid. He was afraid that he'd lose someone he grew so close to. Yes, it had only been months and he had no relation with Soushi whatsoever. He felt as if he was crushed by the fact that his main friend in the campus (A/N: It's a dojo, but I prefer to call it campus) had been long dead. He was also filled with much emotion, for he felt two new things he had been warned of. It was the feeling of Love and the feeling of Pity.  
  
"You're not telling me something I ought to know, are you not? Please, hand it to me."  
  
The trembling, cold hands of the dead girl stretched towards his hands. He pulled away, as if he didn't want to be touched. It was as if he was avoiding a leper, that he knew he will be like one too if touched. He resisted.  
  
She frowned, with her hands clawing her hair as she had before when he reminded her of Sai, a dear friend. The images, from the corner of his eye, were still the same morbid one. The fearful sort of image he wish not to see, but his eyes would not peer away from them. It was too familiar. It was too personal.  
  
The mirror was a big clue for him. However at that moment, he had forgotten what it was that he wanted to know. Now, he organized his thoughts.  
  
"What is it that I wanted to know for my own?" He pondered, ignoring his friend who looked at him strangely, "I believe it was that I wanted to know who killed some of the patients in this place. The murder that did not seem to be murder and neither was it plainly death. I sense something too. Something is bound to happen any moment. I bear it in my soul. A use, I have a gift."  
  
"What is the matter with you, Sou-kun?" exclaimed a voice. It was that of Taro's.  
  
Soujiro did not notice him, and again, Taro beckoned, "What is the matter with you, Sou-kun? Also, why is it soo undeniably cold here?" He leaped to his ally's side as if he were a fellow soldier in battle helping a friend.  
  
The statement grew in Soujiro's head and he neglected the fact that Nagi was not alive in Taro's eyes, "Please, leave me be. Go talk to Nagi over there."  
  
Nagi smirked. She had wiped off the pitiful expression on her face. Taro shook his head around, scanning for anyone there.  
  
"What do you mean? Nagi who?"  
  
"You know her. Nagi Tomochi."  
  
Taro stepped back, shocked with the devastating remark he faced. It was inevitable to hear that name from him, "She's dead, my friend. You are mistaken. Would you care to lie down?"  
  
That was the only time that Soujiro noticed what he had said. He gave a fake roar of laughter, and as to not embarrass himself, Taro laughed too. He did not know why, but he just did.  
  
Nagi, the invisible force that remains in the room, stood up and smiled. It was not a sincere smile and Soujiro had only seen it once. It was when he first met her, he was sure.  
  
"My friend. How long has it been? ." She whispered in his ear, having her freezing breath make way by his neck. Chills ran up to his skin and his hair seemed to standup. Taro felt terrified, but it does not seem that he understood what had just happened.  
  
"Did you?" He stammered, "I'I mean, did you just feel that? I h-heard something and I even f-f-feel more cold. Has this been happening to you?"  
  
Soujiro knew at that moment. Nagi's eyes reflected the mischievous thoughts she once had. He remembered every trait she had: skeptical, cynic and uncomprehended. You cannot merely read her actions.  
  
Her hands held part of his hair. It was soft and wet. Soujiro did not warn Taro of anything and didn't care to answer his question. He was rather too preoccupied at what her plan was.  
  
"That's it! I think I'll rather go out," He muttered, "This is just too bizarre!"  
  
In an instant, he departed the odd room and went in his own business. Nagi chuckled with delight, and while Soujiro was preoccupied, she was able to grab hold of the precious mirror that she had been dying, not literally, to see.  
  
"I see nothing, but it was a delight to be able to get him raged again! He had always been peeved of me!" Her fingers ran through the delicate, smooth surface of the object. Her fingers made marks of mist, and it was more likely that she was dead. It was, after all, a fact that ghosts never had a reflection. Even in the mirror that shows you something different, her reflection was unseen. Even to herself.  
  
"I miss being alive," She sighed, "I-I had a complexion once and I can also see my own face on these. Now." She bent her head down, "Now, I can't even use the handle of the door to enter a room or to be able to hold something without this mist or my clumsiness on them."  
  
Soujiro tried to enlighten his friend, "Don't be sad, Nagi-chan. Don't be sad. Why, I envisage you that you can fly or levitate!"  
  
Her head, which was bigger than her body, bent lower as if she didn't understand what he had explained. Soujiro, at the thought of her knowing this, continued:  
  
"I too, for once, have heard that the spirits of the dead can be invisible as they like. You have done an excellent job of that! I'm also sure you can still hear very well of my thoughts. I hear ghosts are mind- readers."  
  
Her face didn't change one bit. She felt that she was being mocked, for she knew nothing of what he meant. However, she did say something to ease his looking for more encouraging words, "Sou-kun, you have said enough. Please, I don't want to hear any more of it. I just wish that I were human again. Then, I can make my brother happier. I could also have made other people here, like Gyen and Taro-kun, a bite less pained of their past. If I were alive right now, I could have looked at you straight in the eye like this-" She looked at him in a very different way. Her lips weren't formed to be angst or smiling, but of a neutral character.  
  
"If I were alive, I could have had my hand with yours-" She, then, placed her hands on his. He felt her freezing hands and they became more and more cold as the seconds passed by without notice.  
  
"If I were alive, I could-"  
  
Soujiro interrupted her before she had done anything else, "If you were alive."  
  
"Yes?" She engaged a question, with a bitter and cold gaze.  
  
"If you were alive, I could have had my lips feel your sorrow as they touch yours; and then I'll know that you, that you. That you are mine."  
  
His lips were already close to hers and she hadn't pulled away nor pushed forward. His other hand wrapped behind her to her back and his eyes closed immediately.  
  
"You. If you were only alive, I."  
  
His words remained in the air that they breathed in. Her eyes widened with sadness.  
  
A/N: To know what he was saying and what had just happened, please read the next chapter. I'm trying to make the story a little bit more suspending and mysterious. 


	20. Sleuth of no Sloth

A/N: I guess really now you would often find me having a note in every chapter. I'm still under writer's block (which I say has been here for a month or more) and I've got a test tomorrow. I have scanned three pictures already (sadly, I have not depicted two characters yet, Nagi and Modhra). Does anyone know how to place pictures in their files because I've seen it before in fanfiction.net It would really help!  
  
An eerie silence made possible of the pouring of the hearts. Soujiro said all that he wanted to say, but it appears there was something that had begun.  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 20: Sleuth of no Sloth)  
  
"You. If you were only alive, I could have loved you without any feeling of pity."  
  
The wind blew strong, and the voice of his echoed, echoed through the darkness of the night. She looked even more cold than she was, a cynic and skeptic daze.  
  
"No," Her lips uttered as she pushed him away, "You do not love me. You love someone better; and I agree to that match."  
  
Every word she said was true. He did not love her at all, but his heart was with emotions and care for another. Someone in that very same place.  
  
He spoke, "I do. You know. I still love you though. I love you as the sister I've never had and as the sister I wished as a child. That, Nagi- chan. That is something worth hearing of."  
  
Her face didn't change one bit. He saw in her something he assumed not. She wasn't sorrowful or angry. She was glad.  
  
It was just like another the next day. She left him awhile to nurse for his brother, just so that Taro would not blame himself if ever Soushi had died earlier than what he thought. Soujiro felt like he wanted to take a stroll in the garden he had so happily taken for granted before. Today, as I have said, was like any other; but today one thing stood out that it seems everyone- and everything- in the house was celebrating. Modhra Kirashime, the acclaimed doctor/healer, is to come back from the city where urgent matter befell. Soujiro was just as excited to see him again. He even took wonder at what he might look like, since he had been unconscious always when he was there. He was sure the three children were as happy as he was. He only fretted that they would leave and he was in solitary with the material world again. He did not want that, not at all.  
  
It was good news, when it came to him, to hear that they were to stay. In voting amongst them, two decided to stay. As we all have guessed (and so did Soujiro), it was the two boys that wished to stay in the country with their sickly friends. Boten, gloomily, walked about the area like a bee had stung her. No, she wasn't screaming hysterically as she would have done if that did happen, but she stamped her feet wildly on the ground and moaned in utter discontentment.  
  
He saw her shadows passing the rose bushes along the door where the carvings of strange but delightful creatures lay. There too, the griffins had their arms raised like they were bowing to a great king. A great king, indeed.  
  
He went on his way back to the front where he saw Chiriko and a friend smaller than him played a good game of marbles. He too saw Taro, dressed properly like the way Soujiro had seen at their first meeting, in English clothes and waistcoats beyond goodness. He held a cup that looked like one from Gyenryu's cupboard, full of the images of lions and griffins in a silver lining. The smell of his drink could not be failed to recognize as the drink Gyen had once named "a cup of joe" where everyone but Nagi and Soushi liked. Taro drank it merrily while he watched his brother make a mess of his nice clothes.  
  
Boten came around and that was the only time Soujiro noticed her bright green gown. It shined inhumanly that it was less likely to be seen worn by anyone else. Her neck was clad with pearls and gems. He wished not count the many trinkets that her wrist had and the abuse of gold in her eyewear. She was more of a princess than when he first saw her, like a nurse in battle. She twirled her hair about and fixed her glasses a little to suit her nose that was a little off-center.  
  
The noises of wheels on a carriage dropped near their premises. It halted, and the door opened with a most ravishing sound. The three siblings stood petrified. Soujiro too was the same.  
  
From where he stood, he could make out a shoe rather than a sandal. Long trousers soon followed and he found out that it was not Dr.Kirashime yet. It was the children's father. After him, he saw one that he longed to see for the many weeks. It was Dr.Kirashime.  
  
"Great Jove! What manners do any of you have?"  
  
"Oh! Hello father!" Greeted the eldest, Taro.  
  
He blessed his father's hand and the two followed him like little lambs and a shepherd. They, then, went up to their grandfather and hugged him and kissed him. He took Chiriko by the limbs and lifted him high.  
  
"My how you've grown in soo little time! What about you dear? I see you're more charming than ever! Taro, my boy, what news has here?"  
  
Taro snickered, "You are awfully full, granddad. Let us dine first before we engage in this sort of matter. See who is here to see you as well."  
  
Kirashime turned to look at the other side. It was Soujiro, bowing with respect.  
  
"My, it has been long since you and I met, dear friend."  
  
They entered in. This time of the day suggested an early dinner. It was clearly 4 o' clock, but it didn't matter what time they were to have supper. The table had been set by strong patients willing enough to lend their time and effort. It had been filled with the scent of roast beef and rice pudding. A large helping of tempura with sushi had been placed, and sake was on their goblets, except for Chiriko, who was not allowed to drink though he wilt it be, and Boten, who refused to even look at the exquisite Japanese food but the Roast.  
  
Their plates were being served with these things, although Boten served her piece of the roast just so she never had any "Japanese germs".  
  
"Dear Meree and Podoka! How I missed you both. You too Yenbi!"  
  
The conversation was inapplicable to Soujiro's knowledge. They talked of distant relatives and of the economy. They also talked of what happened in the city, that a parent blamed him for the death of her child in his care. Taro did not hesitate to tell him about Soushi's condition, but that part had been thrown off when Boten told them how she handled with much care the child who was sick with meningitis. Kirashime did not hear any more of Soushi because of it. Taro had forgotten within it about his ordeal, but did start the talk about the past deaths in their home.  
  
"It is odd, father, how that does to you. I can't believe that soo many children died with a severity in their bodies. Mutilation, I say! What in the dickens do the killers plan on next?! Horse manure in their mouths!"  
  
"It was of nobody's fault, my son," He said with his endowed voice for persuasion, "It was most likely the work of a deranged man who thought it was better to rid of their sufferings through death. I can't blame him. They are just soo pitiful."  
  
"It's just strange the way their bodies were torn apart and gnawed like those from a beast! IT can't be done by anyone human!"  
  
Soujiro's eyes brightened. He knew who had killed those children (A/N: It was my fault that I didn't mention boys were of the same predicament). It was Jodraul, but he dared not mention it. He might be mistaken for a crazy person. It was undeniable. Who could have been biting these people as food? Why could anything else but her lie be that Sai, Nagi and other souls he wished not see remain to haunt them? Yes, only one could have done this.  
  
The doctor replied with much faith, "No, my son. It is just like what is happening in the west. Jack the Ripper, I heard, did the same; and he was merely human."  
  
As strong as Soujiro's belief that Jodraul Kreuss had something to do with this, he began to suspect two of the most unlikely people to be in the case. Modhra Kirashime, himself, and Kitsune the Witch. The two has the same view of madness that struck in him a violent and malevolent side. Nobody else could have thought of them first. Then, that means they must have known of Jodraul's power and knew he can take blame for such mutilations. Only thing is, who was it among the two?  
  
The conversations of that stayed alive in their discussion. Soujiro closed his ears inside trying not to listen, and didn't have the strength to eat the piece de resistance, a cake made of purely sweet chocolate and sweetmeats. Soujiro didn't stomach either the glorious "Horremn", an ice cream like dessert in their time that tasted unbearably sweet and very delicious. The thought of him seeing in his mind that this benevolent doctor had not only brutally murdered children, but also took parts of their organs as well was sickening and did not seem right. The problem he had then was that if he didn't know who was to blame, the souls (or maybe just soul because he looked as if he only pitied ONE PERSON) were left in the far side of justice. Something must be done.  
  
It was not obvious at first that his task was to find who killed the innocents. It was the reason the exquisite being there led him to a place where he knew only so little of (Remember, Modhra was his old acquaintance). It was a huge responsibility, but someone must do it. 


	21. Winter Fascinations

A/N: Someone asked me why the tale is a bit like Jack the Ripper and is more of a murder mystery than a romance mystery. Also, it has been a fact that the darker story had become more muschy, as in love. Well, right now I am reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and have finished Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Since I'm going to be reading more books for the school and for my pleasure, the story might be a little like their tones. If it bothers you, please tell me if I am doing it. I'll refrain from it.  
  
And yeah, I'm really sorry if I couldn't update mail confirms. My email had been temporarily shunned. ======= That night, Soujiro didn't sleep well. His head was aching and his stomach growled often that he thought of going back to eat the little morsels of leftovers that he knew was there on the table untouched. It wasn't because of the fact he had a task in mind. It was because a holiday that Christians believed was to come. It was called Christmas. Soujiro pondered on what it was since he only heard of it. It is close to it, which is all he knew. There is a thought that struck him more. Would he be able to believe in a holiday that was of a banned faith's?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 21: Winter Fascinations)  
  
***WARNING: Christian/Catholic materials down below. It is still alright to be read I not Christian/Roman Catholic, but it is a nice hypothesis at what makes Nagi irritable sometimes.  
  
Wind rustled to the doorsteps of the dojo. The snow that fell swaying on the ground had been too high that Chiriko was convinced not to go out where he would be covered with snow from head down. It was rough out and a storm seems to brew. Soujiro only looked out his window where he saw the strong sakura tree's blossoms fall off and dance with the breeze. He didn't eat breakfast and was afraid to. He didn't want to ruin a relationship with old friends. Though he desired so much to tell someone of what he thought, he could not. It was possible after all that all he assumes was false. Then again, they may be true.  
  
Whatever the smell was coming from the kitchen, Soujiro was sure it was pungent. It was that of eggs and tomatoes, but he also assumed it was Boten who was cooking. He stepped out of his confinement and decided to visit his dying friend. He hoped Soushi would make it just before this thing called "Christmas" came.  
  
The halls were crowded with children. Some, whom he knew were sick of a disease that did not make them handicapped, were dancing or prancing around singing carols. Others, that he was sure were blind or deaf, were sticking mistletoe on their doors and putting up decorations that Chiriko, Modhra or Taro might have made or taught. All of the others on the halls, that were paralyzed but were carried by helpful stronger ones, were giving each other paper shaped into hearts, diamonds and even fancy little bears. The rest, those were absolutely paralyzed or terribly bitter (once was Nagi in that category, as Soujiro heard), stayed in bed muttering to themselves what a dreadful holiday this was that they were celebrating.  
  
Different things hang around, and it was of many different seasons the children were used to. May it be "Christmas" or what have them, Soujiro smiled at each and everyone. He did not want to spoil their merry hearts.  
  
Soushi's little room was filled with pictures he presumed Nagi and him drew. They were mostly of the two siblings playing around in the snow. However, something was strange with the pictures. Something was amiss or misplaced. Soushi, whose eyes were never wide open, had caring open eyes in the illustrations. More of, the drawings were intricately detailed.  
  
"I see you've seen our work," a familiar voice squeaked.  
  
"Nagi-chan. Soushi couldn't have made those. You HAVE!" Soujiro commented.  
  
She shook her head violently, "No, no, you are mistaken, friend. He DID make them honestly. He inherited my mother's gift for creation. I only acquired- I mean to say."  
  
"What is it?" Soujiro interjected, "What was it you were going to say?"  
  
She smiled rather bluntly and repeated awkwardly, "I never got any other gift but my dad's. I was never an artist, poet, or anything of value. No, I'm not that strong either, as you see. I- well, I-"  
  
He could see from her expression that she didn't want to say anything. She kept looking towards Soujiro as if she was trying to tell him something he ought to not know himself.  
  
With a courageous breath, he uttered, "You're hiding something, aren't you?"  
  
"No, it is just that I have no memory much of my life."  
  
"None whatsoever?"  
  
"None."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
Her eyes watered but nothing else happened other than the yawns of Nagi's brother. He groaned a bit but was very much asleep.  
  
Soujiro frequented, "Why is it you can't remember your life? You used to tell me of your old memories."  
  
"That was because I have been told of them properly, and that I see these people and see a glimpse of my past with them. That is also the reason why I recalled nothing of my own death until you reminded me of it. So was Sai's death"  
  
"I still don't understand. Why do you not remember- remember anything at all?"  
  
Again, her distant stare made him feel uneasy. She contemplated a little, and then replied in a manner that was rude in her (of the way she thinks):  
  
"You are looking at the very fabrication of the reason of which I cannot remember."  
  
Always confused was he and he looked at her at a different angle. He was still unable to reach her level of understanding. It may be that she is not so skilled at many fields, but her tongue has proven of her wise intellect.  
  
He mused, "Is it because of how you think? Why do you speak in riddles?"  
  
"My friend, why do you keep asking questions?"  
  
That was when Soujiro laughed. It was the truth that in everything he did then was that he kept asking her questions that he cannot count in that time. Her smile didn't fade, but her cold start was just as dominant.  
  
"You see," She began, "When one is dead, the soul leaves the body."  
  
"That is not possible, dear. I don-"  
  
"You do not believe in my faith. I am explaining something of which I believe soo much. At any case, when the soul leaves the physical or material world, a soul is just life. It is not a fragment capable of having a past or a future. It stays at different places: paradise, purgatory, hell and the material world.  
  
I know not if you are keeping up with my information, but it is what I believe.  
  
I know that this is a crime. To-to be a Catholic is a crime in here. My thirst for knowledge of it has hastened because it has been long. I thirst for life and for what I lack. There is nothing that I can think of that I will not want that I am dead now. To want when you are alive is a little crude yet unsatisfying. To want when you are dead- Ah! My friend, it is a regular need to want. What else can you do when you look upon your life and be submitted to greed and desire?"  
  
With her words slowly departing, Soujiro saw the glistening of the crystals or something shiny by the window. He hadn't noticed it before. He distinguished that it was the same windowsill he had been acquainted with a sick bird. Now, only fragments of what appear to be glass of some sort. He drew closer, ignoring Nagi and her sorrow. He had felt her sorrow dying out, for he had witnessed day by day how weaker she grew as a soul seeking for life.  
  
He supposed to himself if he were to be like her, dead, if he'd feel the same thing she was. He took small paces to the windowsill, of what seem to be taking forever for him to reach. He still had a piece of his mind n the matter at hand. He sought in his talents, desires and searches what he might be looking for once he also passed over. Nothing but a simple unnoticed wish stirred in him. The one thing he wanted most in life or in death was a family. Only a Family.  
  
A/N: Okay, it doesn't seem that I typed much, but I also seek help. I'd absolutely have an easier time if you would be so much obliged to tell me suggestions or about what YOU think MAY HAPPEN. Those and what your favorite moments/characters are would be my most targeted need in help. Other than that, I think I'm doing slightly better. Thanks for your solaces! 


	22. Night of Many Mischief Part I

A/N: Thank you very much for the kind words in your reviews that got my spirit up a bit of a notch. I also had a lot of requests concerning the characters' pictures. Because of these requests, I am thinking of putting a section in my website that explores the pictures of the characters in "The Wanderer's Eyes". Do note that I am not a professional and that I cannot draw well (or even Soujiro). I will update everyone on the pictures (especially Nagi's and Kitsune's since they're the most requested)  
  
A crisp, passionate feeling that the season had befallen was among them. It was not very dull in the dojo where children lay dreaming that they would heal and be with their own families at the winter festivities. Then again, it was a bit more fun at the dojo than at their homes for the love that the doctor shows them was deep and sincere. Soujiro too longed to be with a decent family at that time of year. He cannot say he celebrated it ("it" meaning Christmas) and he cannot say he even had a decent family at those times. He was usually sent broad or on the tracks with his master, Shishio Makoto. A crisp and passionate feeling; how wonderful it must be! Only carols were at their custody. One best of the others.  
  
"Let the seasons be bright, and so does the heart full of life."  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 22:Night of Many Mischief Part 1)  
  
It was the night before the so-called "Christmas" was to come. The able children dedicated themselves at singing or cooking in the kitchen with Modhra and his helpers. Taro, whom was experienced in the arts overseas, taught those who still had hands how to create cards of different shapes and sizes and even of little toys they were to give their sickly friends. Chiriko and some others were playing and running about. They did not give a care to the worries of the world. After all, it was a very big event! It was Modhra's first time staying with the children during the holidays.  
  
Often, he was away. He was away doing business or attending to the death of his former pupils in his dojo.  
  
Soujiro passed by a huge tree standing in the corner of the visitor's lounge, or what he prefers to call the chamber of commerce. It was like in his old home with Shishio where it was where they talk of nothing but business. "It is odd how grown-ups are!" Soujiro commented as he ambled by, "They care nothing for fun and laughter. Oh, how I love to slay."  
  
In that moment, he shook his head in disgust. He did not want to meander in his past morbid thoughts. That was the old Soujiro, the animosity of himself. This was anew. This was the more caring and understanding Soujiro.  
  
"Merri Kurisumasu!" (A/N: I am exaggerating the fact that I do not know how to say "Merry Christmas" in Japanese) said a little one, which had a cross-shaped necklace on her chest. Her hands were high, so high that he felt she was trying to reach his height. His inference was true. She was trying to reach him. He bent down to see what it was she wanted.  
  
Then, of what seem to be a happy thought for the new Soujiro, the little girl hugged him.  
  
Like any cynical boy who knew not love, he blushed heavily. His cheeks were as pink as a little girl's lips and his ears went red; redder than a tomato ripe.  
  
After that startling event, she handed him a present. She hopped away to another after Soujiro had held it in his hands. He liked the shape of whatever it was. It was gold and bright. It was smooth with long ribbons of red and green were tied to it. He handled it delicately, in case it was gold and he did not want to wreck the physique of it.  
  
"You're supposed to open it, dummy."  
  
It was his worst fear. Kitsune stood behind his back and whispered to his ears those words. They made him blush even more.  
  
She jested, "I think you've never seen a gift before. That one's wrapped. Don't tell me you don't even know how to open it, can you?"  
  
The more he listened, the more his face grew redder and pinker. His hands gently swayed the ribbons and took out the knot that it had been carefully placed. The bow, which he failed to see before, was already torn. He didn't mind it at all because he never received a gift that was wrapped. Not a single time in his life did he receive such, not even from Shishio Makoto!  
  
Eyes of brown grew wide and an expression of joy came in his veins. It was a doll. It was a rag doll that appeared so soft and adorable that he felt that he missed his days of youth. I meant, he missed the days that he was only a toddler. However, he dared not venture those years. The years that toil kept him tied to his fears.  
  
His eyes were glued to the doll's face. It was just too charming to let go, that he hid it in his pocket. Kitsune saw his acts and she passed something to him.  
  
"Think of it as a farewell gift," She sneered, "Just think! This may be the last you'll ever hear or see of Christmas! Such filthy religi-"  
  
The package was small and his ears were automatically taken away from her chatter. As much as he wanted to hear about what she was saying, he wanted to fall on his knees and cry. This was a moment he'll never forget. Christmas meant nothing to him before. Now, he had a memory to share in the book of his life.  
  
He impatiently pried it open. It was another one of her elixirs. Written on the bottle with very minute cases, it said: "Drink with much caution. Can turn you into Animus Fidelius."  
  
He prompted his head into coolness. He didn't desire to throw it away. He didn't, and at the same time, he didn't know why.  
  
At the last sentence, it said: "Look up."  
  
He obeyed its instructions. There, with much amusement, he saw mistletoe. It was vivid and greatly visible. Then he peered to his side. Stood there was Kitsune and she, without notice, never knew there was something above her head too. Soujiro waltz gracefully (A/N:I mean this as a happy walk, not as a dance!) to her side and to his delight, she didn't budge from her spot. She stayed still, not noticing the mistletoe on their heads.  
  
LUB-DUB-LUB-DUB was the only noise you can really hear near by. Her hand, which swayed from her side, crept away and her foot slid by a nail. Soujiro, with open arms, made a grab for her and it was his very own surprise!  
  
An air of disappointment went over him while Kitsune and her remorse and ignorant self whisked her legs to go to Taro. Taro was also beneath one mistletoe and many rushed to have their present from him. Soujiro saw how perfectly still Taro stood for the many of his fans that not just, ran but sprinted with gifts among their hands ready for him. Soujiro didn't feel THAT sad about his miss, for again he saw that he stood underneath another mistletoe again!  
  
"This is a unique game that these children set up."  
  
The night went on merrily, exchanging gifts and exchanging glances of emotions. Joy had certainly poured as the laughter and songs reflected the blessed eve. Even Soujiro, whose undeniable admirer appeared in the form of Kitsune, was not at a total loss of heart. He had given small tokens of coins to the little ones as they gave him a hug and a kiss for luck and longevity. There was only one thing, or rather two which were amiss. It was Soushi and Gyenryu.  
  
Although I did fail to mention that Jodraul was not present either, he did not show any sign of longing to see that person. He actually shuddered with disgust that he even met that person.  
  
Jogging towards the room that Soushi sleeps, maybe, Soujiro ran into a character he knows so well. It was Gyenryu. With a queer glance he took, he was shocked to what Gyen-san repeated to say.  
  
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you." 


	23. Night of Many Mischief Part II

A/N: Below, at the very bottom of this chapter, I have written a small Q&A style of thing because I have received emails asking me these but the server did not send and I was guilty of being unable to answer them privately. I think it may be good tidbits though about the story/characters, though. Also, see the question with "***" because you may find out about the photos of the characters.  
  
The Jolly season was at hand, but Soujiro had a heart that satisfied only sadness and despair. As he walked by the dark yet joyous halls of the "heavily" ill children, an old companion of his muttered strange words he wished not hear. The words he used to whisper on the wintry, lonely nights before.  
  
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you."  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 23:Night of Many Mischief Part 2)  
  
Gyen-san passed him by and did not care to look at his face. It was as if he were mesmerized. Soujiro didn't feel comfortable after seeing him with that face, but he went on minding his own business.  
  
The hall wasn't gloomy, and the air wasn't sad. The hall of the terribly sick children weren't as bad as he thought to be. He felt the freezing passing of souls that celebrate, but he did not see them. He just understood them.  
  
At the room, Soushi was alone. Soujiro assumed Nagi was there with Soujiro and they would be celebrating. This was unusual. Well, maybe for them it wasn't.  
  
"It's nice to see you, Souji-kun!" Soushi shouted with glee. His shout was more of a screech and his voice certainly didn't look to well.  
  
Coming over, Soujiro gave a warm embrace to him and greeted, "It's that night you were waiting for. It's Chri- Kuri- Chr."  
  
"Oh!" He interjected, "You mean Christmas? Yes, I have been waiting for it."  
  
"Where's Nagi?"  
  
"Nagi-chan? She's asleep, isn't she?"  
  
Soujiro scratched his head. This game of innocence was too much to handle. He just continued his remarks, "How do you feel? Do you feel much better?"  
  
Glumly, he spoke, "I oughtn't say anything. I don't feel terrible, but neither am I well."  
  
"You've been waiting for a moment which is now, yet you lost your spirit," a voice suddenly said. To Soujiro's expectancy, it was Nagi.  
  
"I always knew you'd never miss a holiday with your brother," he smiled.  
  
She responded back, "To me, there is never a holiday. It is always time for me to be with my brother."  
  
Soujiro's smile grew even more and the coldness of the room degenerated. The warmth he felt in his heart compensated what was not in his hands. Nagi, with a silly grin, pushed her hand forward and handed him something. Soujiro saw it was another present. This time, it was plainly wrapped in some type of petals and paper.  
  
Nagi cheered the silent mood, "Soushi made it."  
  
His eyes peered closer to the object. It was actually composed of TWO objects. He held both with caution, but he knew that this gift giving meant something dear. He did not give them something in return. He felt sour, like the kind you'd feel if you did not receive an invitation to a party you'd like to go to, and yet everyone was asked to.  
  
"I-I," he choked.  
  
They chorused as twins do, but they were only siblings, "You needn't give us anything at all. It has always been the thought that counts."  
  
He reached into his pocket and discovered he kept the doll he received. A small spec of mistletoe was present too, since it was the one where he had missed that kiss from Kitsune, his newfound love (I hope this explains the comedy of the mistletoe scene last chapter).  
  
Soushi tiptoed over to Soujiro. Soujiro knelt down to see what was wrong. Then, Soushi put his hands over his heart and said, "I would really appreciate it if you opened that. I made it myself!"  
  
The plea made him decide to open it. However, Nagi had disappeared then. She often does, but Soujiro thought she had something important to do.  
  
The two packages each were carried with small note cards. He took the biggest among them and ripped the sides to open it. Out dropped a golden chain with can be interlocked and/or split again. It was neither heavy nor large, but it did make Soujiro believe it was made of real gold. So it was!  
  
The scarlet petals that used to cover it fell on his left foot and it made him uncomfortable. It didn't feel like any normal petals. He bent his neck to make out was making it so heavy. Then, he was surprised. The petals, the soft red petals that lay on his toes, were not petals any longer. Little by little, they turned into glossy pieces of some kind of a puzzle. They shined and did not show any picture. They were silvery and bright. Soujiro picked up one of them to keep, when the piece pricked his finger.  
  
His finger bled helplessly. The tiny cut that was severed by the thing was not what it seems, for it made the cut burn and sting. The excruciating pain lasted long and the blood gushing out of it were of large amounts. He tried moaning, but his moans projected nothing of cries for help, but of laughter. It was the sound of childish laughter.  
  
Soushi gazed at him curiously. There was no reason to laugh, was there? He took a step closer to assist in anything, until he suddenly collapsed on the bitter floor. A stare of deadly flashes spore into the air above them. ======= Q&A about "The Wanderer's Eyes" (This was sent by people that I couldn't reply. You can read it if you like. These are just little tidbits about the story)  
  
Q: Why did you call it "The Wanderer's Eyes"? A: @_@? I hope you read it, since I explained it before. It was of Soujiro's eyes he could see souls of those that beckon help. It was given to him for him to discover what he was looking for. It also signifies truth and mystery. Q: Is Soujiro the only original character here? You have so many made up ones! A: Well, I guess so. Modhra was intentionally not in any way connected to Soujiro, but I decided it was just fun if I did. I originally thought of putting my second favorite character in the story, Okita Soushi, but I was afraid he might get confused with Soushi Tomochi for readers. Q: Why did you use so much paranormal terms? What's the deal? A: -_- Well, I'm very much into paranormal things, I guess. I can't really discuss this matter in a fan fiction. After all, it's about Soujiro, not me. Q: Are you stalling? You're making up new characters and just making more twists! A: Okay, so I am; but don't I have the right to? I'm not stalling. Extra characters like Jodraul Kreuss were not put there just for fun or confusion. I put him there for a reason. If you don't know yet, you'll know more about him soon. Others like Yenbi and Podoka were put there as a sign of someone's kindness towards their acquaintances. Every word in the fan fiction may mean something. Q: You're making me confused here. What's with Taro and his siblings in the dojo? A: They were there to guard or take care of the place while their grandfather had to take care of business. Chiriko has many friends there and would not miss a chance of being with them. Taro may be of the same reason, but if you've noticed, Taro is the responsible type and does seem strict. As for the agitating Boten, she is the person that used to be the nicest around the patients, but changed without them noticing much. Q: Why do you have someone explain things? A: Wow. Isn't it obvious I'd like the reader to find out things clearly without having to follow every non-verbal sentence? This thing also helps me incriminate character's opinion about each other. The way Taro describes Gyen-san may be harsh, but that is just how he thinks. ***Q: You promised us those photos! Where are they? A: I'm having trouble with these. I'm still in the process of scanning some and those less important were also unavailable in my sketch notebook. Once I have ALL OF THEM DONE (I don't want to just update per character, I'll make them feel alone and sad), I'll tell everyone IMEDIATELY. However, you can see if I have updated the yet by going to http://unknownkid.iwarp.com and see the My Stories' Artworks. You can also email me at Unknown_phantom888@yahoo.com or review this fic for questions. Q: I feel sad for Soushi. Why is he dying? Also, if he's blind, how can he see Nagi? A: He has AIDS. I don't want to be a science teacher here, but you can contract many diseases because of this, having no immunity to anything. Sometimes, even a cold can be fatal. However, don't worry. Soushi is fine, for now, and with Nagi and Soujiro taking care of him, hopefully he'll recover. About the blindness, he doesn't really see Nagi. He only senses her presence and thinks she's still alive. He still believes she kept her promise that she'll never leave him no matter what. Not even, as you can see, death could separate them. Q: Where do you get all these ideas? A: I don't really know what to tell you. These things just pop out of my head and sometimes in my dreams. I guess my devotion in writing gives me the edge and also my love for mysterious stuff. Q: I've been to http://unknownkid.iwarp.com and you have no actual pictures in it except for these kid pictures. What's the matter with you? A: -_-' I feel dumb. I haven't started updating much pages yet. I am in Honors classes and I can't do much because of my minimum time, not even this fan fiction! Q: What killed Nagi again? I'm confused here. A: Many of the children in the dojo, including Nagi as the most dreadful case, were mutilated into pieces and their organs were taken out. If you've heard of Jack the Ripper or the movie "From Hell", you may have an idea for my muse, but I'm not using their tracks. No, they weren't raped as the women in that case were. Nagi, the most awful of them all, was also the saddest case. She was near the "wood-like" heathery place by their place and she clutched a cross and a picture of Soushi in her arms. She was the only one killed with her eyes closed and her body not very mutilated. She was in one piece, but her organs were still taken. As a fact, she had the most organs taken among all of them. Even bones were missing in the investigation. Q: Why do you miss out a lot of stuff from the old chapters? A: Well, my server lost my files and I can't even save them back to my hard drive. I'm a little bit lazy if I have to copy it. So, please, just tell me if I placed something before that didn't make sense. Maybe it used to be a hint of somesort that I forgot about! Q: I'm also a fanfic writer. Do you think you could sketch my characters to post in my website? A: Sure, but there is a fee. My website states that you can commission me to do work of any sort, all you have to do is supply me with an idea of what you want to see, payment in cash and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Please email me again so I can discuss this matter privately. Since I've just started, my prices are really low for the norm. So, please help my business grow! Q: Can you tell me what's going to happen next? Who's the murderer? A: T_T' This is making me cry. Is the story too boring, long, complex to read? No, I can't. 


	24. Night of Many Mischief Part III

A/N: I'm awfully sorry for the delays! My Math projects just had to stand in the way. I think you might like Chapter 25, because I've got an outline for it already! Well, for now I hope you guys enjoy this episode ;D *grins*.  
  
No sound but the one that frightened him was loud. His trembling heart pounded furiously. Soushi, the sweet child, lay on the floor limp and unconscious. Soujiro did not hesitate to aid the child, yet something bothered him. Where did Nagi go?  
  
THE WANDERER'S EYES  
  
(Chapter 24:Night of Many Mischief Part 3)  
  
Soushi was freezing. His usually pale pinkish flesh seemed just as cold as his sister's dead and unwelcome skin. What Soujiro thought to be his worst fear then, it was happening without a warning. He had remembered Taro telling him that Soushi may die sometime when Modhra was back. He knew this could be it. He panicked. He wanted to shout, but his hand over his gasping mouth let an even bigger surprise. Soushi's hair was turning glowing yellow. It was odd, and there appeared to be a black thing coming out. It was a black butterfly.  
  
The apparition danced before Soujiro's eyes. It hypnotized him. It made him feel dizzy but strong. A ghastly screeching noise was about. To Soujiro, it meant nothing. However, he knew so little of the spirits that foretell the immediate future through these noises.  
  
He clutched Soushi in his arms. He tried to walk, but his feet were unstable. He raged, "Why is this happening? Why now? WHERE IS NAGI?!"  
  
A crisp catch of the screech made him even wobblier. The ground appeared to shake and shake that it was like a tremendous earthquake where you cannot walk a step, nor can you be still without something to depend on. Soushi did not have a weight, so that did not bother him. Only his condition made his senses disturbed.  
  
The little boy turned a bit paler; his hair even more bright. A tear fell from Soujiro's eye and he muttered, "What can I do to save him?! Why can't someone else die?!"  
  
A very cynical thought entered his head. It was a different Soujiro. It was the kind that had a heart of love, but a cold and harsh one it was. He was determined to find a way on his own.  
  
He was able to run from then on. With his heart set, he tried to rid of the grim thoughts that just might happen. Then, one unexpected turn did happen.  
  
"What.?" Soujiro asked on a paradox, "What am I doing here?" He seemed to be lost. His tears, that he knew he had not shed many times before, grew more quickly. He peered into the halls that surrounded him. "Where am I?"  
  
It was one of the most unusual corridors ever to be found there. It was dark. It was homely and repulsive. Even more, it did not share the same holiday spirit the rest had. To Soushi, it was a path to his life. If they fail to take this path, he was to suffer more. To Soujiro, this was a familiar hall. It was Gyenryu's hallway. Only that the hallway was darker. It had a morbid appearance that Soujiro wasted on looking at. Either way, he passed there to see who he can ask help from.  
  
He called out to people. He said for them to show up if they can help. As logical as it wasn't, Soujiro was not convinced he ought to go to Modhra for Soushi. He has thoughts of what happened to the murders at the dojo. No, he did not want to lose another soul to the evil of them. What bothered him was that it could be someone else and that he was falsely accusing Modhra of a crime he did not commit. Jodraul had a perfect alibi. So did Kitsune. Gyenryu was on his list too.  
  
"Please! Somebody, I need your help!" He continued. There was no reply but dead silence. The torture of this waiting cut a wound into his heart. Why wasn't anyone there?  
  
One of the doorways caught his eye. It was the silver mirror-like door Gyenryu had. It glowed immensely bright. It shone its light strangely. There was no way it count retrieve a force of its own to create these unnatural phenomenon. Either way, it didn't matter whether this odd light came from the door itself or from something else. He crept closer to it, trying to avoid letting go of Soushi. He pulled forward. He couldn't stop himself.  
  
He entered the door that promise him a salvation of his own.  
  
It was a few seconds. Soujiro saw himself back again to where he stood, just by the mistletoe. Nothing happened exciting. It's just that Kitsune was near. This wasn't his second chance. This was his first and maybe last chance to share a moment with the woman he had in mind. He clenched his fists in anticipation, but then he noticed he was holding some things.  
  
They were a doll, an elixir and a chain. There was also a small parcel wrapped with colored paper on his other hand, and bruises, probably from glass, were present all over. He dropped them all to the ground, knowing somehow that if he missed this moment, he would live it over and over as a mistake to regret.  
  
He heard in his head that all the things that he had done then, they were to cycle. He was to live in a different identity and appearance, but he'll still have himself. All these actions he had done or not done were going to happen over and over; and he can do nothing about it. He can only feel sorry for himself. He can also do the right thing in the first trial. He thought of this in that short awkward pause.  
  
The mistletoe was straight under Kitsune's big, unique head. Heading towards her, he looked for signs that may make her flinch or move. No, Taro was somewhere safe and "un-mistltoed". The reason for all this scanning and preparation: he did not now. All that there was to him was that he foretold this event somehow. It didn't make sense how he had his guard up on Taro or why he wanted to be extra precautious being with her. They were all blurs that had nothing to make out.  
  
He swiftly took steps towards Kitsune. Within an instant bizarre moment, he was able to land his lips on her cheek.  
  
"BAKA!!!! (Idiot) WHAT ARE YOU THINKIN'?" she shouted hastily.  
  
Soujiro blushed, but it didn't seem visible since Kitsune chased him in the room like a hunter and its prey. It was daring for him to do that. As he ran, he saw a glimpse of Taro. He was smiling. Beside him, Soujiro saw an even brighter yet vague image.  
  
It was Yuri, Taro's beau. They stood in the middle of the corner, weary-teary eyed. Soujiro blinked with pain. How could that have happened? Another blink of his eye, and she was no more. Yuri was out of his vision. However, could that be possible Taro knew her presence was there? Impossible, Soujiro kept repeating. It's as impossible as escaping Kitsune from their hilarious frenzy of a chase.  
  
Far in the corner of the room, where laughter could not reach and Modhra strayed farthest from, two eyes watched the excitement of the crowd in the middle of the room. Most of all, it kept track of Soujiro's movements. It was undeniable that Soujiro did run strangely, just as fast as he often ran when he did his Tenken abilities. The two lustering eyes swayed back and forth like a rocking boat beneath the midnight sky.  
  
Silence. Deep silence, it crept.  
  
Within the black darkness, a drop of what appears as human blood spilled from the bowels of the shadow land where it stood. A small speck of flesh covered an object he held in his arms. More blood, more water spilled cautiously. Nobody was able to notice the strange phenomenon that occurred while they lay in a blissful time.  
  
"SOUJIRO-BAKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU BETTER BE HERE WHERE MY FISTS COULD REACH YOU!!!!!!!"  
  
Soujiro thought of her as very immature. It was only a little kiss. It wasn't as if he lifted her skirt or accidentally fell on her chest. He grinned, maybe she'd be happier if that happened, especially if it was Taro- kun. Now that would be a spectacle he admired! The more he thought of this chase, the more he thought less of Soushi and more on Taro.  
  
He remarked, "I'm happy I'm finally getting some exercise here. It's been a while since I've last ran as fast as this."  
  
A twinkle in his eyes signified that he was in content with himself. He had fulfilled one of his many awkward happiness. The other of which he wishes to accomplish was out of his head for now. He was having fun. It was a different one that when he had with Battousai or when he was with Makoto Shishio. It was the type of fun he had when raindrops fell on his skin. They passed into through his toes. How wonderful he felt when those tiny, little particles of water tickled his toes without him noticing it!  
  
Then all his happiness, the ones that took his misery out, stopped for a second.  
  
The dark corner of the room that, of which they feared, bore a sinister cry. A tear of soft, brown hair plummeted to the light.  
  
It was someone he knew.  
  
It was Soushi. 


End file.
